Back 4 More
by Xorncon - Number 0
Summary: Week three after the Infection hit, and all the survivors, save for Zoey, have died. Now she has to team up with a new group of survivors: a doctor, a smart ass, a leader, and an little girl who isn't immune to the infection. Can this new team survive?
1. Survivors

So yeah, after playing L4D2, I suddenly got the urge to write this so…yeaaaaah, let's see where this goes. Oh, also this is in Blood Harvest…maybe…sorta…in a sense…

* * *

Within a deep forest, a young girl with brown hair, wearing a worn out pink jacket and a blood stained white T-shirt, stumbled from tree to tree, a look of sorrow on her face. She had watched her friends from the University die, she had watched her team, her friends…her family killed. All that she had was a single pistol and a spare clip to go by. Zombies, or the infected, had taken everything from her, and now she had nothing left, nothing to lose. Any and all zombies she saw she would kill, or die trying to kill. The young girl harbored a hatred for the infected, a hatred that she knew would lead to her death. She didn't care anymore, she was tired, and she couldn't take anymore. Once in the clearing, she laid eyes on a large group of at least two dozen zombies standing or lying around. She hated how they could seem to be at peace at this moment, how they had no cares, no thoughts, they just acted on instinct and without reason. Now it was her turn.

She quickly raised the pistol and blasted a hole in the nearest zombie's head. The loud gunshot prompted the rest of the zombies to veer their heads around and charge. Without moving an inch, the girl moved her arm around, shooting the storming zombies. Each one fell as each bullet pierced through their body, blood spraying out from their wounds. After the first dozen zombies were down, her pistol clicked empty. She pressed the button on the side, releasing the empty cartridge to the dirt below her. A zombie got dangerously close, but soon had his skull smashed by the girl's ferocious swing. The zombie fell in a heap, blood oozing from the wound in its head. The girl quickly slammed a fresh clip into her pistol then continued shooting. Only four zombies were left and she had over half of her clip left. Suddenly, something snaked around her body and pulled her back off her feet. She whipped her head around, seeing a tall zombie with smoke fuming from its body and its tongue constricted around her body. The four remaining zombies continued toward her. With a loud shriek of defiance, the girl grabbed the tongue around her body and threw her body weight forward. The lanky zombie was thrown from the roof then came smashing into the ground head first. The impact crushed its skull and a cloud of smoke shot out from its body. Her pistol was out of reach whenever she was pulled back and the zombies where too close. It wouldn't stop her.

Once again the girl swung her fist forward, landing a solid blow to the first zombie's jaw, dislocating it and knocking the infected person to the ground. The second zombie came towards her, arms flailing madly. The girl bent over, thrusting her shoulder into its stomach then flipping the zombie over her back. The infected landed awkwardly on its neck, snapping it. The girl then clasped her hands together then swung upward. Her combined fists slammed into the bottom of a female zombie's chin. The impact lifted the zombie off its feet and caused it to fall painfully on its back. The last zombie managed to tackle the girl to the ground. The infected person lied on top of her, then attempted to claw her. She held her arms together to protect her face. Suddenly, gunshots rang out, blasting holes through the zombie's chest. The zombie fell over lifelessly to the side, allowing the girl to sit up. The girl then noticed two zombies, namely the first and the female zombie, got up and stared at the girl with pale eyes. More gunshots rang out and the chests of those two zombies were blown out as well. A look of shock came across the young girl's face, completely confused on what happened. To answer her question, four people came out of the bushes, all but one holding a gun.

The human in the front was a young man, around twenty or nineteen, he had short, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a bloodied black T-shirt, and blue jeans on. A young girl, around twelve or thirteen stood behind him. She had long black hair, blue eyes, a green shirt, and jean shorts. The next one was a man, around his mid to late twenties, light brown, long hair, green eyes, and a goatee. He wore a brown leather jacket that seemed a little short at the sleeves, and under that he wore grey shirt, and blue jeans. The last man seemed to be in his early to mid thirties, blonde hair slicked back, but a few strands hung loosely down on his forehead. He wore a light green, button shirt and blue pants, almost looking like a doctor. The brown haired man walked to the side and picked up the young girl's pistol then tossed it back at her feet. The girl bent down and picked the weapon off the ground.

"Are you okay," the young man finally asked.

"I'm fine," the girl snapped.

"That was some brutal shit," the brown haired man stated. "That was some freaking great hand-to-hand fighting." The girl in pink only stared at the man, then to the ground.

"Where are you heading," the young man asked again.

"Nowhere…"

"Okay…? I'm Jamie, this is Maria, that's Alan, and that's Doc." The girl looked at the young girl, Maria, then Alan, the brown haired man, and Doc, the guy who looked like a doctor. "Do you mind telling us your name?"

"Zoey," the girl sighed out.

"Alright, Zoey, now how about you tell us A: how you got this far on your own, and B: what you were planning to accomplish by fighting zombies with nothing but a pistol," Alan demanded. Zoey remained silent, averting her eyes from Alan and his question. "Well, spill it already!"

"Alan, shut up," Jamie barked. "Listen, if you don't want to tell us what you were doing or how you got here that's fine, but we can't let you go on by yourself. How about you come with us since you don't have anywhere else to go?" Zoey looked up at Jamie, her eyes devoid of emotion. However, Jamie had a kind smile on his face, hoping that she'd accept. "I promise you'll be able to kill more zombies," he added.

"Whatever," Zoey replied sadly, ignoring the joke completely.

"That's just as good as a yes," Jamie said quickly. "Doc, how far are we from the nearest town?"

"Just about another mile though that forest," the eldest survivor answered, pointing to his right.

"Alright, that's where we're heading then people. Alan, you take point, Doc, you get the rear. Zoey, you're wherever, so long as you're sticking with the group." Zoey nodded as Alan and Doc got into their designated positions. Jamie moved between them, holding a pistol in one hand and having a firm hand on the back of the young girl. "Alan, you got an extra clip right?"

"Yep," the point man replied before pulling a pistol clip from his pocket. Without turning back, Alan tossed the clip back. Zoey caught the clip and placed it in her holster attached to her thigh. "Man, I could go for a slice right now."

"Well you need to get through to the town and maybe they'll have pizza there," Jamie stated. "Better pray that the safe house we go to has a working oven."

"That'd be a first," Doc added with a smile from the rear.

"I just wanna hurry and fuck some zombies up. Watching Zoey fuck those zombies up has gotten me in the ass kicking mood!"

"Alan! One curse word per sentence," Alan snapped, placing a hand over Maria's ear, while pressing the side of her head into his hip.

"Oh please, if she hasn't heard every cuss word in the English language by now she will within the next week."

"Let's see, you've said the A word, the B word, the other B word, the C word, the other C word, the D word-,"

"Are ya done," Jamie asked wearily. "Stay focused." Zoey looked to her side, holding her pistol down in front of her.

So far the banter this team just had reminded her of her old team, bringing up fresh, painful memories. She had no clue why she decided to go with these four. Maybe it was a sign for her to continue surviving. Her thoughts were cut short whenever a loud screech echoed through the forest followed shortly by an automatic blasting away. A zombie wearing a hoodie landed in a heap, blood flowing steadily out of the holes in its body. The barrel of Doc's gun smoked, confirming his kill.

"That puts me in the lead Alan," Doc said mockingly.

"Fuck you," Alan spat.

"Keep moving," Jamie ordered. "That's probably gonna attract attention." Alan quickly moved forward at an accelerated jog. The rest of the team followed closely behind, guns now ahead of them.

"That doesn't put you in the lead Doc," Alan exclaimed suddenly.

"Yes it does. That kill put me in the lead by one."

"No, Tanks count as two remember!"

"Yeah, but Jamie took care of half of that Tank for you, and he's not playing so you only get one point not the full two."

"Oh that's bullshit," Alan shouted angrily.

"Shut the fuck up," Jamie yelled. "You can argue and do math when we're safe!" The remainder of the walk was in silence. After a few long minutes, the group finally came out of the forest and to the front of an apparent empty city. "Doc, you and I will move up and make sure things are okay. Alan you and Zoey stay here."

"You got it," Alan replied. Zoey looked to her new temporary partner who instinctively took a step towards Maria. The female brunette gave a confused look, unsure about why Alan would do that, but shrugged it off and turned her attention to a moving crouched Doc and Jamie. The two moved slowly, their guns aimed up in case of any surprises. Their sights swept from side to side and finally Alan gave the signal to move up. "Come on Maria, let's go." The young girl nodded and held onto Alan's leg with one hand. The two moved up quickly and Zoey followed after them.

"Alan, check that building," Jamie ordered, moving two fingers to the door off to the right.

"Oh please be something for me to shoot," Alan whispered as he moved forward slowly. He opened the door slightly and slowly. Alan slipped his hand through the opening and turned on his flashlight. A few seconds passed, but suddenly the door was sent flying back off its hinges, and with it Alan. The door landed in front of the other four survivors and Alan landed away from the building. The survivors turned their guns to the opening just as a Tank destroyed the doorway by rampaging through.

"Fire," Jamie shouted, letting rounds fly out of his pistol. Zoey and Doc shot wildly as well as the Tank charged. "Cover me!"

"Done," Doc replied in a loud shout. Jamie grabbed Maria and swung her over his back then sprinted in the opposite direction of the Tank. "Zoey, draw the Tank's attention to us!"

"That's the smartest plan I've heard all day," Zoey yelled over the gunshots. The funny part was: she wasn't half lying. The bullets from Zoey and Doc eventually got the behemoth zombie's attention and it came charging towards the two survivors.

Jamie ran to a garbage dumpster that sat against a brick wall. "Hide here okay? Don't move." Jamie pulled out a second pistol then held the handle out to Maria. The girl stared at it with reluctance. "I know you don't like them, but it's just a safety precaution okay?" The little girl then took the gun and moved behind the dumpster, hiding safely. "I'll come back okay? Don't move." Jamie then quickly ran back to help his fellow survivors.

Zoey and Doc were behind separate cars, loading bullets into the charging Tank. The massive zombie stopped then slammed its hands into the ground, lifting a chunk of the street above its head then hurled it at Doc's car. The blonde man dove back as the chunk of street smashed into the car, sending it flying over Doc's head. The Tank then charged Doc, grunting savagely with each step. Suddenly, bullets flew into the Tank's back, causing it to stop and turn around to Jamie who held his pistol up expertly. The Tank charged, roaring with rage towards Jamie. Out of nowhere, Alan stepped next to Jamie, a machete in hand. Jamie pulled out a combat knife and held it out with his pistol hand on top of his other hand.

"Ready," Alan asked.

"Always," Jamie replied.

Alan sprinted forward with his head down as Jamie started firing rounds from his pistol. The Tank took all the bullets and continued forward. Alan was now less than ten feet away when the Tank raised both of its massive arms high into the air, and then brought them crashing down. Alan dove forward, avoiding the shattering impact of the Tank's fists which destroyed a section of the street. The survivor slashed his machete across the Tank's midsection, leaving a huge, gapping gash along its stomach. Jamie charged forward next, throwing his now empty pistol to the ground. He jumped up and stabbed the Tank in the face, twisting and churned his blade within the zombie's skull. Alan slashed the Tank's body again in the opposite direction, leaving another gash above the other one. Unfortunately, Alan's machete was now wedged into the body of the massive zombie. The massive zombie thrashed around in rage and pain, trying to throw Jamie and Alan off. Alan pulled out a shining magnum, aimed it at the Tank's heart, then pulled back the trigger. The bullet pierced the Tank's chest and surprisingly went all the way through. The once fearsome Tank now went limp then fell onto its side. Jamie and Alan walked up to the corpse and pulled out their respective blades.

"That's always so much fun," Alan stated before holstering his magnum. With a smirk on his face, Doc moved up to his team while Zoey stared on with shock.

"I'm going to get Maria," Jamie told his two partners before running down the street.

"Where's the new chick," Alan asked Doc. The blonde turned with a confused look, but saw Zoey slowly walking up to the two of them. "Man, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I…that…was…"

"What? You've never seen two guys take on a Tank up close and personal with a knife and a bigger knife?" Zoey shook her head in response. "Well, you're gonna get a ton of that and even more crazy shit by hanging with us."

"Yeah, Alan's just a crazy guy, and Jamie is crazy, but he's smart about it," Doc added.

Jamie sprinted as quickly as his legs would carry him before he finally approached the dumpster he left Maria by. He slid on his knees in front of the opening, hearing the clicking of a gun as the young girl aimed the pistol forward. Jamie panted from so much running, but smiled slightly.

"It's okay, it's just me Maria." The girl slowly lowered the gun, a look of shame coming across her face. "The Tank is dead and we're moving on." Jamie held his hand to help Maria. The little girl pointed behind Jamie to a sign. The young man turned, seeing a street sign that had safe house graffiti painted over it. Jamie turned back to Maria, his hand still extended to her. "We'll go there next, I promise." Maria placed the gun delicately into Jamie's hand then crawled out on her own. Once she was out, Maria clutched Jamie's leg then followed him as they made their way back down the street where they met the rest of the survivors halfway. "There's a safe house down this road." Alan, Doc, and Zoey looked down the road.

"You mean the street filled with infected," Alan asked. Jamie whipped his head over suddenly, seeing a ton of oblivious zombies walking around in the street.

"That'd be the one," Jamie answered slowly. "Doc, you got a pipe bomb right?"

"Of course," Doc replied, pulling the silver stick. "Take cover." Doc hurled the bomb as far down the street as he could. A red flashing light went off and began beeping, stealing the attention of the zombies in the street. The bomb exploded, taking over two-thirds of the zombies out in a cloud of red mist.

"Go," Jamie shouted as he ran first with Maria following directly behind him.

Zoey followed next, then Alan and Doc. The remaining zombies noticed the fleeing survivors then gave chase. Alan released a blast from his shotgun, taking out the chest of the nearest zombie. Doc unleashed a stream of bullets from his rifle. The led bullets tore through the zombies, killing some, while grazing others. Zoey aimed and shot at zombies while sprinting for dear life. Jamie shot any zombies in his way, focused on everything in front of him. Finally, he saw the red metal door to safety. Jamie ran faster, holding Maria's hand and they finally got into the safe house. Jamie let go of Maria who ran to the furthest end of the safe house while Jamie stood at the entrance shooting any zombies that tried to enter. Zoey came tumbling in, tripping over a corpse into the safe room. Doc was next who ran back into the room. Alan was next, walking back slowly while blasting as many zombies as possible with his shotgun before finally entering the room. With everyone inside, Jamie closed the door, leaving the zombies outside in a rage.

Everyone panted heavily, except Alan who had a devious smile on his face. "Let's do that again!"

"No," everyone aside from Maria shouted.

"Okay, we're staying here for the night. So everyone check for ammo or weak points where the infected can come in from."

"What about food," Doc asked.

"I found a fridge!" the lover of killing shouted from the next room. Jamie moved his head, a smirk of amusement on his face while Doc looked back unconvinced.

"Does it work," Doc shouted back.

"No, but we have a fridge," Alan answered. Doc smirked while Jamie frowned.

"Is it plugged in," Jamie asked. A moment of silence filled the room.

"Nope, one second. Now it's plugged in. IT WORKS!!!"

"I win," Jamie said to Doc with a smile on his face.

"So that means I've got to go with Alan to get food." Jamie nodded. "Alan, get ammo and let's move out." The brown haired man poked his head around a corner, a look of curiosity on his face. "We're going to get food."

"Sweet! Zombies here I come! Wait, were are the guns?" Maria walked around the corner and pointed to an unseen room. The survivors rounded the corner, seeing a whole weapons cache of guns and ammunition. "Oh thank GOD for rednecks!" Jamie and Zoey whipped their heads to Alan.

"Are you seriously quoting Zombieland," Jamie asked.

"So what if I am? It's a good movie," Alan shot back.

"Just go get the food." Alan walked up and took the top of the nearest crate off, revealing a large number of military weapons.

"OH YES BABY!!" Alan pulled out a small weapon about as long as his arm. "Grenade launcher!!"

"I'm going to die aren't I," Doc asked fearfully.

"Meh, it's been nice knowing ya Doc," Jamie joked. "Start fishing out weapons to take with you so you can at least fight back against Alan."

"Please, he's going to destroy half the city with a fucking grenade launcher." Jamie smiled then walked to explore the rest of the safe house.

There was a bathroom, dirty and filthy, a room with sleeping bags and a tattered old mattress, and the room that led to from where they came from and the final room where Alan and Doc were getting weapons. Gunshots were heard within the safe house, but no bullets flew inside. Jamie looked over to see Zoey shooting through the slot in the door, killing the zombies that still tried to break the door down.

"Having fun," Jamie asked before walking towards his new partner. Zoey didn't turn her head, only reloaded then continued shooting out of the hole. Jamie leaned against the wall opposite from Zoey. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Zoey replied quickly.

The next shot caused a large about of blood and brain matter that could be heard splattering. Jamie sighed and turned to the pistol barrel, watching the bullets fly out. After a moment, the gun clicked empty. Zoey looked at the gun with revulsion then threw it to the ground. Jamie pulled out his pistol then handed it to Zoey, trying to be friendly. The girl turned to the young man with a distant look then turned her head away. Jamie sighed then put his pistol back.

"We're ready to rock and roll," Alan's voice shouted. Jamie and Zoey turned their heads, seeing Alan holding an automatic shotgun, grenade launcher on his back, med kit strapped to his hip, and wearing a belt designed for holding ammo cartridges, stolen from the weapons cache. Doc only had two pistols strapped to his sides, a submachine gun on the back of his waist, and his rifle slung over his back with a med kit on his hip as well. "Move aside because as soon as that door opens shit is gonna-," Zoey pulled the handle up then pushed the door open, revealing a pile of dead zombies. Alan's face showed disappointment at his fun being robbed from him.

"Hurry and get a move on," Jamie ordered. Without another smart remark, Alan and Doc ran outside and Jamie slammed the door behind them.


	2. Pizza

Alan- machete, grenade launcher, medkit

Doc- assault rifle, dual pistols, submachine gun, medkit

Jamie- pistol, combat knife

Zoey- pistol

Zoey leaned back against the wall nearest to the safe house door, staring at the red metal with a bored expression on her face. Jamie sat in the main room, watching his new teammate with a curious expression while Maria sat on the floor with her knees to her chest, drawing circles in the dirt with her fingers. Jamie sighed then looked back to Maria who stopped circling her finger to look up at the young man.

"You bored," Jamie asked the little black haired girl. Maria nodded then looked down at the ground. Zoey had turned her head and watched Jamie and Maria for a moment before turning back to the safe house door. The dark brown haired young man stood up and walked over to Zoey, leaning against the wall opposite to her. The two stood in silence, Zoey staring at the door, Jamie staring at Zoey. "You know you could have gone with them if you really wanted to kill more zombies."

"I don't care…" Jamie sighed as his brows rose up slightly with concern. "Do you usually send those two guys out on their own?"

"Well…yeah. It's because of Maria." Zoey turned her head away from the door to the young girl staring at the ground. "She's a bit of a…special case. She's not immune to the virus." Zoey snapped her head to Jamie, a look of alarm on his face.

"What do you mean she's not immune?"

"Well there's a reason we call Doc, Doc: because he's a doctor. He was a doctor in Mercy Hospital and he was hired to deal with some unusual cases, the unusual cases being zombies."

"How long ago was this?"

"According to Doc; about a month ago. The infection was supposed to be a secret from the general public. CEDA and the government thought they could contain this situation, but they were wrong. The zombies were effectively contained, but the infection started evolving, and the first test subject broke out of its containment cell and ravaged the hospital, infecting several people while killing many more. It wasn't in the news due to four entire floors reserved for the special case, but a fifth was being constructed for the evolving zombies. Well they soon made a cure and started sneaking it within a normal flu shot, that's why the hospital wanted everyone to get a shot so quickly. Well, the few people who survived the first subject breaking out, got loose into the city and began infecting other people, and it began spreading more and more until well…this happened."

"So the cure that they gave people with the shot…"

"Means that those people were immune, but Doc said that it wasn't a hundred percent for every person. Something about blood type, pathogen stuff, I dunno. I flunked science so I kinda tuned out when he explained that part."

"So Maria didn't get the shot?" Jamie shrugged, turning his head to the young girl who remained oblivious to the conversation.

"I guess so. I mean zombies punch me, Alan, and Doc, but they try and bite her every chance they get. Doc thinks they can sense somehow that she's not immune."

"She hasn't told you guys if she got the shot?"

"In case if you didn't notice she doesn't talk at all." Zoey's eyes widened slightly as she turned her head to the innocent looking girl. After a moment, the brunette realized that Maria hadn't spoken a single word the entire time she was around her.

"How old is she," Zoey asked.

"Between ten or thirteen. She doesn't give us an actual answer though because of the no talking thing. I think the reason she doesn't talk was that her family was killed."

"How, by what?"

"Well Alan, Doc, and I were running through the city and the sun had just set when we saw that there was a poster saying there were survivors inside a certain apartment complex. We figured it was worth investigating so we went inside. There were hardly any zombies, but we did hear a Witch. Alan, being the reckless moron he is, opens the door and all three of us saw an entire room painted red with fresh blood, body parts and organs everywhere."

"So you three teamed up on her," Zoey guessed.

"Yeah right," Jamie replied sarcastically. "Despite his exterior appearance, Alan is a big softy…who hates Witches with an INSANE passion. So instead of teaming up on it like any normal person would do; Alan runs up on it with his light off, then smacks the witch in the face causing it to stumble back. The Witch moved to attack, but Alan blinded it with his flashlight, causing it to scream. It did slash him across the chest in a blind furry though, but Alan speared through a window and the Witch smashed through the roof of a car and died. Alan was hanging on the ledge for dear life though."

"Alan likes to take risks doesn't he," Zoey inquired with a smirk.

"No, that time it was just blind rage," Jamie answered with a bright smile. "Anyway, Doc moved to help Alan up while I made sure there was nothing else in the room, but I saw the closet door move slightly. I moved over and swung the door open, ready to kill a zombie, but instead I saw a pale, trembling, crying, and horrified Maria bundled up in the corner."

"So she watched her family killed by the Witch," Zoey stated sadly.

"Something like that. I think she's too scared to talk. And for whatever reason she doesn't like guns either, unless she absolutely has to use them."

"Why doesn't she like guns? Was she traumatized by something else?"

"I dunno," Jamie replied. "I'm the one she feels safest with, but I've never heard her say one word."

"Maybe she's mute?"

"No, she can scream, _trust me_ I know she can scream." Zoey giggled lightly before turning her head back to the youngest person she had seen in nearly three weeks. "So not to be nosy, but what's your story?" Zoey sighed through her nose then stared at the ground. "Alright, I won't ask until you're ready to talk about it." Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door which caused Jamie and Zoey to jump.

"RAWR I'M A TANK!! Let me in to snack on your delicious skin!"

"Oh you're a riot Alan," Jamie muttered as he opened the safe house door. Alan stood with four large pizza boxes stacked on top of one another while Doc fired into an oncoming horde.

"And I brought company! Hope you don't mind!"

"YOU DUMBASS!!" the dark haired survivor screamed as he ran out with his pistol, firing into the horde to help Doc.

"Hey Zoey," Alan greeted casually as he walked past said girl, setting the pizza on the floor behind her. Doc and Jamie just finished walking back into the safe house, slamming the door shut behind them. Doc was pouring sweat and panting heavily, hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"DON'T YOU EVER SEND ME OUT WITH HIM AGAIN!!" the blonde doctor shouted to Jamie. "He almost got us killed four times!"

"Only four," Jamie questioned with a dry voice.

"Hey, we're safe aren't we?" Jamie walked up then smacked Alan in the back of the head. "OW, why'd you-," Jamie then pointed to Maria who was now in the furthest corner of the safe house, shaking slightly. "Oh come on, you'd seriously think I'd let her get hurt?"

"Why would you bring a horde to the safe house," Jamie asked, his anger rising.

"Because Doc was being all cautious and I alerted the horde four times and while we were coming back we were arguing and he accidently hit a car that set off a car alarm. So blame him."

"The pizza place was less than two blocks away," Doc shouted. "How do you almost get yourself killed four times within two blocks?!"

"Twice for each block," Alan replied casually.

"Listen, Alan, I know you like to prove your greatness, but there's being brave and stupid. You're always stupid, but this crosses the line. You know you NEVER bring a horde, or a Tank, or a Witch, to the safe house for OBVIOUS reasons!" Alan rolled his eyes before staring at the trembling Maria. The goateed man sighed heavily through his nose then looked Jamie in the eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Can we eat now? I'm starving."

"I heard that," Zoey agreed. Jamie nodded then moved towards Doc. Zoey looked up, seeing the two whispering sharply to one another in a quiet argument. Alan squatted down and opened the first pizza box and took a piece out.

"Damn, it's cold…"

"What're they talking about," Zoey whispered to her goateed teammate. Alan turned to look over his shoulder then back to Zoey with a casual look on his face.

"Jamie is just talking Doc down. Usually when I do stuff that pisses Doc off Jamie has to talk him down. He'll be fine in the morning." Zoey nodded, still watching the other two arguing in their whispers. "You gonna eat? I thought you said you were hungry?"

Zoey shook her head clear before taking a piece of pizza and nibbling it quietly. Alan fell back on his behind and leaned his back against the wall, chewing quietly on his slice of pizza. Zoey then sat on the cold floor as well, staring at the pizza. Maria quietly walked up next to Zoey and took a piece as well, and took a tiny bite. The older girl looked up at the younger with a smile.

"Is it good," Zoey asked. Maria nodded in response. Doc walked into the room with all the sleeping bags while Jamie walked up to the pizza.

"He's going to bed," Jamie informed everyone before grabbing a slice. "He's really pissed at you Alan."

"He can bitch until he wakes up in the morning and then he'll be fine. The horde at the door was totally his fault though."

"Well you know you don't have to piss him off Alan," Jamie snapped.

"Yeah…but you know its fun." Jamie snickered with Alan despite his best efforts. Zoey smiled at her teammates before noticing something.

"Wait, you guys had a lot more guns when you left right? Where are they?"

"Oh right, that grenade launcher only had like three shots and I wasted them all, and I used my medkit to bash a zombie's face in, ruining half of the stuff in it. Doc got pounced and almost mauled to death, lost one of his pistols, and his medkit got torn to shit and when he got pounced, his submachine gun took most of the impact and practically broke it. Stupid military issue crap."

"So we have no medkits whatsoever," Jamie asked.

"Yes-siree-Jim-Bob," Alan replied.

"Great. At any rate, I think we should head to bed after eating," Jamie announced. "Alan, you may have to sleep outside."

"Oh that is bullsh-,"

"Watch your mouth," Jamie snapped quickly.

"I was gonna say sh-crap," Alan replied indifferently.

"Sure ya were," Jamie muttered with his eyebrow cocked. After a few more minutes, Maria ate one last slice of pizza, Jamie and Zoey ate two, and Alan ate four, finishing off a pizza and a half.

"Alright, I'm gonna head to bed," Zoey announced as she groaned, stretching her arms above her head. Maria tapped Jamie on the shoulder then pointed to the bedroom.

"Okay, goodnight girls," Jamie said to both of them. Zoey and Maria walked into the bedroom to find Doc already snoozing in a sleeping bag. Maria tapped Zoey's arm then pointed to the mattress.

"You can sleep in it if you want," Zoey replied, guessing that's what the girl meant. Maria smiled slightly then walked over to the mattress and lied on top of it. Zoey grabbed the nearest sleeping bag then snuggled herself in as best as she could.

"So did you learn anything about Zoey while I was gone," Alan asked Jamie as he threw the empty pizza box into the nearest corner.

"Nothing," Jamie replied, taking the rest of the pizzas to the fridge.

"Ya wanna know my opinion?"

"I never wanna know your opinion, but you always tell it to me."

Ignoring this comment, Alan continued; "I think she was with another group of survivors for a really long time and bonded with them right? But then they died or something and that's when we found her: depressed and trying to kill as many zombies as possible."

"Or she was on her own and tired for a really long time," Jamie replied. "There could be any number of reasons, but we won't know until she tells us and I'm not going to pry into her business."

"True, I guess we'll either become closer over time or we'll all die."

"Nobody is going to die Alan, except a bunch of zombies."

"Oh hell yeah," Alan exclaimed triumphantly before heading into the bedroom. "I'm going to bed. See ya tomorrow Jamie."

"Night Alan," Jamie replied, staying around a little while longer.


	3. Dreams

Alan- machete

Doc- assault rifle, pistol

Jamie- pistol

Zoey- pistol

The survivors were moving through a dark alleyway: Bill taking point, Louis behind him, Zoey third, and Francis bringing up the rear. "God damn it I hate these fucking vampires!"

"Zombies Francis," the other three survivors shouted in unison.

"Whatever! I HATE THEM!"

"Pipe down or else you'll alert a horde to us Francis," Bill barked loudly. "Christ, you baby."

"I'm not a baby," Francis ever so 'maturely' fired back. The survivors moved in silence keeping eyes peeled for any type of infected. "I hate silence…"

"FRANCIS!!" everybody screamed. In response, the roar of an approaching horde could be heard everywhere.

"That was you guys," Francis stated, pumping his shotgun once. A wave of zombies came running down the alleyway towards the survivors. "Let's have some fun!"

"Wake up Zoey," a new voice shouted. Zoey opened her eyes to a new and fuzzy world which slowly came into focus. Her new friend Jamie came into view, with a warm smile. "We're getting ready to move out okay?"

"Whatever," Zoey snapped angrily as she got up quickly. Alan, who was standing behind his makeshift leader, and Jamie both looked at Zoey oddly before turning to each other with puzzled expressions.

Doc was hovering over the military crate of guns and supplies, trying to decide which one to pick. Zoey slightly shoved Doc out of the way and grabbed the first gun she got her hands on. As fate would have it: it was a combat shotgun.

"Uh…are you sure you can handle that gun," Doc asked skeptically. Zoey shifted her eyes up, glaring daggers at Doc while her jaw tensed up. "I'll be going over there now." Doc immediately jerked to the side. "What the hell is the matter with her?"

"Great, we get another chick in our group and it's that time of the month for her," Alan replied bitterly. Jamie gave a well deserved punch to the shoulder. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Being insensitive," Doc answered. "She's not angry, she seems more upset."

"Well she did mutter some guy's name…Francis I think?"

"Boyfriend probably," Alan stated. "Or a brother, or father…"

"Well either way it's not our place to pry," Jamie replied. "She can open up to us when she's good and ready."

"If she ever opens up," Alan corrected as he headed towards the guns with Doc behind him. Jamie sighed and shook his head slowly, following behind his other two friends.

Zoey stood at the exit door, leaning back against the wall, waiting to open the door and get the day started. It was a routine she was use to by now: leave the safe house, shoot zombies, survive, get to second safe house, leave that safe house, find evacuation. The problem was that evacuation never came or was short lived. Now all Zoey cared about was murdering each and every last infected she came across. She watched her new team rummage through the crate, finding the weapon they'd want most and grabbing enough ammo for it as well. She sighed, turning her head away while waiting impatiently for them to hurry up.

"Hey I called the magnum," Doc screamed.

"Bite me," Alan replied. "I lost my magnum and Lord knows you can't hit shit with the magnum anyway."

"Right," Jamie said as he snatched the magnum from Alan. "And lord knows you're a worse shot than Doc, which is why I'm taking the magnum."

"Awe," Doc and Alan whined at the same time. Jamie smirked then holstered the magnum while grabbing an assault rifle with a strap on it. The two continued savaging for a new side arm while Jamie walked over to Zoey.

"You okay?" Zoey turned her eyes lazily to Jamie before focusing back on the door, waiting to run outside. "Uh…alright…"

"How much longer are they going to be," the girl finally questioned. Jamie turned to his bickering friends then back to Zoey.

"It depends. They're very picky about their weapons." Zoey rolled her eyes, sighing heavily through her nose. Jamie opened his mouth to speak, but a tugging on his pants leg took his attention. Maria pointed to Alan who was grinning sinisterly, holding a fully automatic rifle with an RPG on his back and a belt full of grenades around his shoulder. Jamie's face and mouth dropped at the sight while Zoey simply cocked an eyebrow. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I found this RPG! Freaking sweet ain't it!? I can't wait to find a Tank! Or a Witch! Ooh I'll fuck up the next bitch we see!" Jamie smacked his forehead, looking to the sky with his eyes wide.

"Why do you think life is a video game?"

"Hello! The world has turned into a bunch of zombies, there are no rules, a shit ton of guns, and a lot of targets! How is this NOT like a video game!?"

"Simple: you die against the enemy you actually die," Doc replied, pumping an auto shotgun as we walked past Alan. "I'd like not to die Alan, so you're taking point."

"Fine with me," the bulky young man screamed with an eager glee. Alan ran towards the door and kicked it open, alerting nearby zombies.

Alan blasted the nearest zombie in the face with his rifle, then moved on to the advancing zombie. Doc crouched, moved in front of Jamie, shooting zombies in the body with the shotgun while Jamie blasted holes in the infected with a magnum. At the same time, Zoey was blowing entire chunks out of zombies with her combat shotgun. The survivors scanned the area one last time, very carefully before moving forward slowly.

"Maria you can stand behind me," Alan offered.

"Yeah right," Jamie replied. "We don't want her to get blown to bits idiot so she's staying next to me." Alan shrugged and continued forward on point with Doc behind him. Jamie followed, his hand on Maria's back, holding her close while Zoey walked next to the both of them.

"Do we know where we're going," Doc asked.

"Do we ever," Alan replied. Doc rolled his eyes, mostly because his teammate was right. Jamie's head slowly moved back and forth, checking for the slightest bit of movement, but saw nothing. Zoey glanced over once, but kept her eyes focused forward afterwards. "Damn it, I need to use this on a Tank!"

"Alan, shut the fuck up," Jamie exclaimed, tired of his friend's whining. Suddenly, something wrapped around Zoey's body in a split second then yanked her backwards, prompting her to scream with shock. The survivors turned, seeing Zoey being pulled by a Smoker on the second floor of a nearby building. "Hold on," Jamie screamed as he crouched and carefully aimed his rifle at the Smoker. He squeezed the trigger, unleashing a burst of bullets that tore through the Smoker's body, killing it in an explosion of smoke. Zoey fell heavily to the ground with a thud.

Doc ran to Zoey while Alan followed Doc as a lookout. Doc crouched next to, and helped Zoey unwrap the Smokers tongue from her body. "You okay," Doc asked. Zoey looked up to Doc, causing a familiar image to flash into her mind. The young girl quickly stood up, pushing Doc away from her.

"I'm fine," she lied, storming away from the now confused doctor. Doc, Alan, Jamie, and Maria watched as Zoey stomped away from the rest of them, taking point. Alan moved quickly behind Zoey, followed by Jamie and Doc respectively.

"So what's everybody's least favorite special infected," Alan asked aloud, trying to strike up conversation. "Mine is the Witch. Anybody else?"

"I hate Boomers," Doc answered. "Those things are nasty as sin, and they stink!"

"What about you boss," Alan asked, turning his head to Jamie.

"I hate them all, can we please focus," Jamie replied.

"Come on, there has to be one infected you hate among all others. What is it? Tank, Smoker?"

"Shut up and pay attention," Jamie exclaimed, becoming annoyed.

"Come on boss, just tell us, I won't judge you I swear," Alan pressed on. Jamie sighed and looked to the sky again, trying to tune out his bulky companion. "What the fu-," Everyone turned to Alan who was suddenly jumped on by a short, hunched over zombie that leaped onto his back. The zombie wrapped its legs around Alan's shoulders and placed its massive hands over the survivor's face, moving him around the streets. "AH!! GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF ME!!" Zoey pulled out a pistol and aimed carefully, shooting the zombie in the shoulder, causing it to fall to the ground, writhing in pain, but laughing hysterically. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING?!"

Jamie began laughing while pointing at Alan, "Hands down, most favorite special infected!" Ignoring this comment, Alan in a fit of rage pulled out his machete and began slashing angrily away at the miniature zombie, killing it in a brutal fashion. Jamie quickly kneeled down, turned and covered Maria's eyes from the sight. After a few stabs and slashes, Alan began panting heavily, covered in zombie blood.

"Feel better," Doc asked as he walked up and knelt down next to the now dead zombie.

"That thing is fucking crazy! Did it seriously just hump me!?"

"New special infected," Zoey muttered as she approached the corpse. "How did this happen…?"

"I'm not sure," Doc replied. The blonde lifted his shirt a bit, revealing what looked to be a rip-off of Batman's utility belt. Doc pulled out an empty vial and placed it against the zombie's body, pressing against a wound. Blood gushed out and poured in and around the vial, filling up about halfway. Doc closed the vial and put it back into a safe, cushioned box on his belt.

"What the hell is that for," Zoey asked.

"Oh, Doc thinks that if we survive that those samples will help CEDA," Alan replied. "So far he has five blood samples of normal zombies, one of a Hunter, one of a Smoker, one for a Witch, one Tank, and some chunks of Boomer."

"Although if the Green Flu is mutating like this I may need new samples," Doc replied as he slowly stood up. "Anyway, we need to name this little guy for future reference." Alan inspected the body, realizing that the zombie was wearing brand name boxers.

"Well the brand of the underwear is 'Jockey,' so how about Jockey?"

"Sure," Doc answered. "After all it raped you, so you should have the right to name it." Alan glared angrily at Doc who only chuckled and moved on.

"What was that thing," Jamie asked as the other members of his team walked up to him.

"Jockey," Doc replied. "Because that's the underwear it has on." Jamie's head pulled back and his eyes blinked repeatedly in confusion. "Alan named it so don't ask."

"Hey, I didn't see you coming up with a name," Alan shot back angrily.

"I also wasn't raped by it," Doc added. Alan gritted his teeth, holding himself back from attacking Doc in any way shape or form. "I mean seriously, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my-," Suddenly, Doc's feet burned like he was standing in fire. "OW!! OH SHIT!!" The blonde survivor hopped up and down in a spreading green acidic like substance before he dove out of the way. A pool of bubbling green goo was next to Doc as he quickly tried to scrape to substance off his shoes onto the nearest sidewalk.

"Now THAT is fucking funny," Alan corrected.

"Up there," Jamie shouted, pointing to a long necked, fat zombie. "What the fuck!?"

"Shoot that bitch," Doc shouted, angry at the burning sensation in his feet. With a burst from his rifle, the fat zombie fell to the ground.

"That's new," Alan pointed out. Doc quickly ran up to the zombie and crouched down as he pulled out two more vials. "I guess it's not just athlete's foot you gotta worry about now huh Doc?"

"Yeah you just wait until the next time a-YEOW!!" Doc sprung his legs upward, throwing himself back with a painful thud on the sidewalk as more acid flowed out of the zombie's bullet holes. "WHAT THE FUCK!? THAT THING IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" Jamie, Zoey, and Maria walked up, inspecting the corpse of the new special infected.

"Well that's the ugliest thing I've seen since this side of Doc's girlfriend," Alan joked.

"Second only to your boyfriend," Jamie muttered annoyingly.

"Well aren't you the fucking comedian…"

"I do what I can." Finally, the acid died down and Doc collected a sample of the zombie's blood and acid from its mouth. "So, you just got screwed over by that thing Doc, so you wanna name it?"

"Well…judging from the fact it has no cheeks, and that the only acid I could collect was from the mouth I would assume it would spit its acid like a cobra. So I guess…Spitter would suffice."

"Or ugly fucking whore," Alan added with a grin.

"Alright, well we've encountered two new special infected, so I suggest that we get moving before we find anymore." The rest of the armed survivors nodded and Doc took point after safely placing his vials away.

Alan followed Doc, flanked by Jamie and Maria who were followed by Zoey. "Hey, can we stop by a clothing store," Alan piped up. "I can't stand the smell of burnt leather." The team looked at Doc's shoes which were almost completely melted, and peeled off of the pavement, like a sticker, with each step.

"Yeah, I think the mall should just be a few blocks up ahead," Jamie replied.

"Oh great, zombie apocalypse and we're going to a mall, where have I heard this before."

"Alan, shut up. The only reason they died in that movie is because they left the mall." Zoey rolled her eyes, trying to tune out of their conversation. Under normal circumstances, the young girl would've loved to talk about horror films like "Dawn of the Dead," but the past few weeks had been anything but normal. "I think we could all use some new clothes though."

"Amen," Doc agreed. "So are we mall-ward bound?"

"You bet your PHD we are," Jamie exclaimed.

"Think we'll see any new types of infected bastards," Alan asked.

"With our luck: of course." The gang stuck together, picking off the few zombies that noticed them before they now stood outside of the mall parking lot with cars scattered all around.

"Alright, let's go shoot up a mall," Alan shouted eagerly, gripping his gun tightly.

"Ya know it's a good thing that for people like Alan we have this apocalypse," Doc replied. "Otherwise this poor bastard would come up in the news as one of those kids who shoots up a mall."

"The difference between me and those kids though: I wouldn't get shot until I ran out of ammo."

"Guys shut up," Jamie sighed out. "Even though everyone else is a bunch of cannibalistic freaks that's still not something you should joke about."

"Are you fucking serious," Alan asked, stopping as he whirled around. "A joke like that is too soon? Everyone is dead or a zombie and I can't make that joke? That's bullshit…" As Alan turned back around, as a new type of zombie appeared. With one massive arm the zombie roared like a rhino as it charged forward at the survivors. "HEADS UP!" Alan dove to the side, dodging the zombie.

Doc and Zoey both moved to opposite sides as the raging zombie ran past them both. Jamie ran off, holding Maria's hand as they both moved between two parked cars. The zombie stopped and turned back around facing a distant Doc, Alan, and Zoey with their guns raised. The three survivors unleashed bullets into the zombie, landing a few good hits. The zombie ran back through some parked cars providing perfect protection.

"What the hell was that," Doc questioned.

"A half Tank?"

"Well let's hurry up and kill it," Zoey snapped before running forward. Doc and Alan turned to each other before following Zoey.

Back with Jamie and Maria, the two weaved through the tightly parked cars, hearing the heavy grunting of the new infected, but unable to see it. Jamie held on tightly to Maria's hand, moving quickly while keeping an eye out for any type of infected. The little girl frantically moved her eyes back and forth, nervous as could be. Finally, Jamie stopped a nearby car and pulled on the door handle. The driver's door popped open, and Jamie pulled Maria forward.

"Stay in here and don't make any sounds okay?" The little girl nodded as she lied in the flooring of the car.

Jamie quietly shut the door and gripped his magnum tightly. Slowly, the survivor moved quietly through the cars, trying to find the new zombie, or his friends. The young man stopped and crouched next to the back tire of a car, looking out into the now open area. Only a few cars were parked, but overall it was an extremely open area which made it perfect for the new charging zombie. Jamie knew that's exactly what this zombie, wherever it was hiding, was waiting for. With no other options left, the survivor recklessly ran out into the open area, heading for the nearest car. A loud roar was heard as the one armed zombie charged towards Jamie. The survivor whipped his head around and ran faster. The zombie managed to hit Jamie on his right side, causing the survivor to spin around and stumble to the pavement. The one armed zombie slowed to a halt before it turned back around. Jamie struggled to push himself up, looking for his gun which was now thrown halfway across the parking lot.

The zombie charged at Jamie again with its massive arm forward. The survivor looked around frantically for any type of defense. As the zombie closed in, Jamie finally saw one line of defense and ran for it. He stopped next to the nearest car then threw the door open and crouched behind it, pushing his weight against the door. The zombie adjusted its course to Jamie. As the survivor braced for impact, the zombie blasted straight through the door, tearing it from the car and taking the survivor off his feet. The zombie then threw its arm upward as it slowed, throwing the car door high into the air and causing Jamie to fly back, smacking hard into the pavement. Before Jamie could even attempt to push himself up, the zombie grabbed the survivor with its massive arm then slammed him into the pavement. Jamie screamed in pain as the zombie lifted him up for another slam. However, the zombie released Jamie, dropping him, as Alan jumped on its back, hacking at it with his machete. The zombie screamed and ran away from Jamie with Alan still on its back, hacking away furiously. Doc and Zoey ran up to Jamie who was groaning in pain.

"Where does it hurt," Doc asked.

"Everywhere," Jamie managed to reply.

"We need to get him some first aid," Zoey pointed out.

"Or a lot of drugs…"

"YOU FUCKER DIE ALREADY!!" With one final swing downward into the top of the zombie's skull, the one armed monster fell to its knees and face first into the pavement. Alan got off then ran back to Jamie and the others, "How is he Doc?"

"Well judging from how he's not moving I'd say: bad. We need to get him first aid."

"Or a lot of-,"

"We already covered that," Doc cut off. "Wait, where's Maria?"

"I-I left her in a car for protection," Jamie replied. "A silver Mercury…"

"I'll go get her," Zoey said before running into the parking lot.

"Alan, help me pick him up." The bulky survivor nodded. The two put Jamie's arms over their shoulders and slowly lifted him off the ground.

"That thing royally fucked you over eh?" Jamie still managed to glare at Alan, despite his unimaginable pain. "So you gonna name it?"

"I'll call it your mom if you don't shut up! Ow…"

"Wow, you can't even yell because you're in so much pain. That's rough man. Should we call it the tenderizer?"

"I swear as soon as I get better I'm gonna fucking shoot you in the foot," Jamie threatened with a level tone. "Besides it charged more than it tenderized."

"Charger it is," Doc decided. "Let's hope there aren't more of these new bastards."

Elsewhere in the parking lot, Zoey ran up to a silver Mercury and tapped on the window. Maria's little head poked out to see who it was. "Hey, come on we're moving." Maria rolled out from the flooring as Zoey grabbed the handle.

Suddenly, a low growling was heard. Zoey snapped her head to the side seeing a crouched Hunter a split second before it pounced. Zoey somehow managed to throw the car door open and step back, causing the Hunter to smack face first into the door and come to a dead stop. Maria screamed at the top of her lungs in surprise as the Hunter screeched in pain. Zoey aimed her shotgun and blasted the Hunter in the stomach, leaving a wide hole in the now dead zombie. As she sighed, Zoey turned to the little girl, who was now on the opposite side of the car, eyes wide with her entire body shaking. The sight of the petrified little girl reminded Zoey of herself not too long ago. The older female smiled a bit then looked at the frightened Maria.

"It's okay, you're safe now." The young girl slowly moved towards Zoey, still shaking violently. Maria took the older girls' hand and was pulled out of the car. Zoey gently brought Maria out of the car, turning her away from the corpse. The older girl picked up her shotgun with one hand, using the other one to hold Maria's hand. "You ready to go now?" Maria nodded once. Zoey then walked away from the Hunter corpse, and made her way to the mall.


	4. The Mall

Alan- assault rifle, RPG, belt of grenades

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

Zoey and Maria made it to the entrance of the mall, which now seemed to be fortified as a safe house. The door opened from the inside and Alan stepped out. "Come on in ladies, this sausage-fest was getting awkward anyway."

"That's gross dude," Zoey replied as she and Maria walked past Alan. Once they were inside, the door closed and locked shut. "Did we find some first aid?"

"Well this is a big place. More like a suite than a safe house when you talk about size. Doc is currently looking around the whole place for any type of first aid. If we don't find any, then we're gonna have to go out and find some then come back." Maria looked at the two older survivors with a confused look. Alan looked at the young girl then at Zoey, "Does she know?" Zoey shook her head. "Oh that's just great…"

"Hey there's a working fridge with food," Doc's voice called out. Alan threw his head up, staring at an upper platform a few feet above them.

"DOC!! Focus! First aid now!"

"Yeah I found four packs." Suddenly a medkit flew over the railing and found its way into Alan's arms.

"Well that's great Doc, now get down here and patch him up!"

"Why do I have to do it?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE A FUCKING DOCTOR!!"

"Oh right…one second guys." Doc walked out of the room, down the platform to a small group of stairs. "I can get absent minded sometimes."

"Still, you could be concerned for Jamie ya know!"

"I am! I just figured why did I have to come down and patch him up when you were perfectly capable of doing so yourself." Alan gave a dead look to Doc. "Then I remembered I'm a doctor and you're an incompetent ape."

"Hey, I am not incompetent!" Doc rolled his eyes before grabbed the medkit.

"You guys stay out here and help yourselves to the food up there or something."

"Are you gonna rape your patient Doc," Alan mocked.

"No, I just don't want you bothering me." The thirty year old then walked into another room and closed the door behind him.

"Well, who else wants to go clothes shopping?"

"Shouldn't we probably wait for Doc and Jamie," Zoey asked. "We don't know how many zombies there are out there." Alan looked out of a small window into the mall and only saw a few dozen zombies scattered around the massive food court.

"There don't seem to be that many of them."

"So there's a Tank somewhere then," Zoey mouthed back.

"Oh don't tease me like that," Alan replied weirdly. "I so want to use this RPG on something!"

"Use it on yourself if ya want." Alan turned to Zoey who strolled up the stairs with a mocking smirk on her face. The bulky survivor rolled his eyes before following Zoey to the food. In the makeshift kitchen area, Zoey had already pulled out a can of soda as Alan walked it. "So is it worse than we thought? Jamie I mean?"

"Nah, Doc said there shouldn't be anything broken. Just some bruised bones and skin. Nothing some medical tape can't cure. Although, according to Jamie those Chargers only go in a straight line. So all we've gotta do next time we see one is just sidestep it."

"Good to know," Zoey replied. "You want a sub sandwich? I think it's still good in the fridge." Alan opened the fridge door and poked his head inside.

"Yeah, why not, it smells edible." Alan pulled the sandwich out of the fridge then placed it on the counter.

"I want at least a third of it."

"Can do." Alan pulled out his machete and was ready to cut the long sandwich before he realized his blade was covered in blood. The two survivors stared at the machete, Alan with slight disbelief and Zoey with questioning judgment. "I'll go clean this off."

"Forget that, I'm finding another knife. I don't want a zombie brain sandwich." Zoey started pulling drawers, looking for something to cut the sub with. Alan walked back into the kitchen, sitting in a chair while Zoey looked frantically.

"So what's with you?" Zoey paused then turned around with a blank look at Alan.

"Say what?"

"Well don't get angry, but this morning you were all pissy and now you're, well, normal. So what's the deal?" Zoey's eyes hardened before she turned back to the drawers. "Oh come on! You've gotta let us know eventually why you get so easily pissed!" Zoey slammed one of the drawers shut, sighing heavily to herself.

"I had a bad dream last night, let's just leave it at that…please." Alan remained silent, figuring that's all he was going to get out of her without a fight. Zoey continued scavenging through the drawers in silence. Deciding to break the silence Zoey asked; "So what'd you do before all of this happened?"

"What'd I do?"

"Yeah, like did you have a job, school, anything?" Zoey asked as she turned around, leaning on the counter.

"Honestly I dropped out of college and made my living in underground cage-fighting matches."

Zoey's face cringed, "That sounds painful."

"Well it was at first. Then you learn either make the other guy hurt or you'll be hurting for a solid week. I was actually pretty good at it. I made enough to live off of without an actual job."

"Was any of it illegal?"

"Meh," Alan replied with an uncaring shrug. "Some of it was, but most of it was legit. The illegal stuff made me the most money though. But I knew some guys who always did that, made a lot of money, but eventually got busted for it. I decided to play it safe."

"What made it illegal?"

"Well there'd be a lot of crackheads sometimes, or it'd be funded by mob bosses, or sometimes the only way a match was over is when one guy was dead and the other one wasn't."

"Wow…"

"Yep, got a lot of bruises from that shit though."

"Is that what makes you so violent?"

"Well that and video games," Alan replied with a taunting smirk. A moment later, Doc came walking into the room with a bandaged up Jamie behind him. "Holy fuck, you look like shit boss." Jamie had his shirt off, showing most of his torso covered with bandages. The only part of him that was exposed was his shoulders.

"Yeah, so don't fuck with those Chargers, Alan."

"You know he's going to anyway," Doc muttered angrily. Jamie sighed then put his jacket on, zipping it up to his collar bone. "So when are we going shopping? I need new shoes damn it!"

"We need to eat first Doc," Alan replied. "Plus we need to see if we can get anything that could store supplies, like a suitcase or something."

"A suitcase," Jamie repeated with sarcasm in his tone, "really?"

"Well maybe not a suitcase, but something that can carry shit that's not me." A soft knocking was heard, prompting the survivors to turn their heads. Maria was leaning out of a doorway before pointing into the room she was standing in. "She's good at finding shit."

"Ten-to-one says she finds a tank with the keys in it," Jamie replied as he stood up. Doc, Alan, and Zoey all looked strangely at Jamie. "A military tank, not the hulking zombie Tank."

"Oh," the other three said simultaneously. Jamie rolled his eyes as he walked towards Maria who was pointing to a duffle bag.

"Well that could be useful." Jamie patted Maria's head as he moved to grab the bag. Once the bag was in hand, Jamie and Maria moved back into the kitchen area.

"So what'd you do before the apocalypse hit," Alan questioned Zoey.

"I was flunking college," the female survivor answered truthfully.

"Ouch," Jamie replied before dropping the bag and sitting in a chair.

"I spent most of my time watching horror movies and playing video games. My teachers basically gave me two options: do better or drop out. My parents weren't too happy to hear that I was failing college…"

"Parents can be D-bags sometimes," Alan agreed. "But at least you survived the apocalypse so far right? So fuck those teachers!" Zoey smirked slightly, her eyes lowering to the floor. The others were quiet, sensing the sadness emanating from the young girl. "So…do we have a plan for getting out of this place? We can't walk forever boss."

"Well we can't exactly just hotwire the nearest vehicle and drive off into the sunset either."

"He's right, there are too many issues."

"Like what?!"

"You don't remember last time we decided to take a road trip," Doc asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

"Okay, so we ran out of gas once and we had to push the car. We got if filled up with gas didn't we!?"

"Then what happened after we started driving?"

"A Hunter pounced on the windshield…and we almost drove into the ditch…"

"And what'd we hit," Jamie asked next.

"Another car…and alerted a horde. We survived that too!"

"But then what happened after we survived that?"

"A Tank came around the corner and punched the hood of the car, throwing me through the windshield, and almost killing the rest of us…"

"And don't forget when a Smoker grabbed me while I was driving," Doc exclaimed.

"That was actually pretty funny," Alan shot back.

"He's right dude, that was classic." Even Maria grinned hugely at the memory. Zoey meanwhile, looked confused. "It was so funny," Jamie began as he turned to Zoey. "It was during the day, blazing hot right, so Doc decides to roll the window down."

"Do we have to go over this," Doc asked, trying to hide his anger.

"Shut up, it's story time here," Alan shouted. "Anyway, for once I was the voice of caution, saying he should roll down his window, but Doc thinks I just said it to start an argument, which was half true."

"Anyway, out of nowhere, a Smoker's tongue wraps around Doc's chest and tries to pull him out of the window. Doc stops the car and he and I try to get it off, but it's practically impossible."

"So I buckled Maria up," Alan continued. "Then I moved into the front seat, and pressed on the gas with my hand." Zoey's eyes widened as she placed her hand over her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. "The car shoots forward, and half of Doc's body is hanging out of the window and he is SCREAMING at the top of his lungs!" Both Zoey and Maria started laughing while Doc only groaned.

"I was holding onto Doc's legs, keeping his other half in the car and steering at the same time. Well eventually we heard this sound like a tree branch snapping off and Doc wasn't being strangled anymore, but he did still have the Smoker's tongue wrapped around him. Once Doc's sitting back in his seat, his hair is sticking up like he's been electrocuted and he's totally petrified."

"And then we all just lost it," Alan finished. "Every one of us, except Doc, starting laughing our asses off."

"I could've died because of you!"

"What else is new," Alan asked loudly before laughing haughtily.

"Glad it's not impossible for people to have fun at the end of the world."

"Nah, you just gotta make the best of it. Right Doc?"

"I hate you Alan…"

"Enough with the sweet-talkin," Jamie exclaimed as he stood up. "Let's shop!" Before moving, Maria stood in Jamie's way, pointing at the corner of the lower section of the safe house. "Thank god for the military!"

"I fucking love the military," Alan shrieked as he, for no particular reason, dove over the railing and rolled before smacking into the ground. Zoey's expression was now one of pure confusion.

"We get like this sometimes," Jamie answered for her. "We get excited or pumped up and do stupid shit. Alan mostly."

"I don't have to do I," Zoey asked.

"Of course not," Jamie replied as he headed for the stairs.

"Boss, there aren't that many guns. Just a pump shotgun, submachine gun and a piss ton of ammo."

"So thank god for rednecks, not the military."

"Either way: thank god for something!" Zoey, Maria, and Doc made it down the stairs. Jamie threw the duffle bag down next to Alan before jumping over the railing and landing on the ground. "Everyone grab the ammo you need, and store the rest in that duffle bag, and Doc, go back up there and grab any and all medical supplies." The team scavenged the crate for what ammo they could carry, placing the rest, or currently unused ammo in the duffle bag. Jamie grabbed a submachine gun, placing it on the back of his waist.

"What about this," Alan asked, holding the pump shotgun above his head.

"Bag it," Jamie replied. The bulky survivor knelt down, attempting to make the shotgun fit, but ended up with the butt of it sticking out. With the bag filled with ammo and an extra, loaded gun, around Alan's shoulder, the survivors piled around the exit. "Alright, crouch and shoot guys." Doc and Alan nodded before moving closer to the door.

The door flew open, hitting the wall with a loud crashing sound, alerting the nearby zombies. Alan and Doc crouched on one knee, shooting zombies in the stomachs while Zoey and Jamie blasted them in the face and chest. There were only a few zombies, so all the nearby threats were taken out in less than a minute. The survivors waited for a moment before deciding to move forward. This time, Maria stuck close to Zoey who followed Jamie, Doc, and Alan at point. As they progressed further into the mall, Jamie and Alan decided to play some 'Zombie Games,' as they called it. The two walked up to four zombies that mindlessly stood outside of a nearby sports store.

"Excuse me," Alan called out obnoxiously loud. The zombies spun around, staring at the two cocky survivors.

"Could any of you guys tell us where to find the clothing store," Jamie asked. The zombies screamed at the survivors before charging at them.

Alan strode up, throwing his gloved fist into the face of the first zombie, breaking its nose and causing blood to fly out of its mouth and nose before falling flat on its back. Zoey's eyes widened slightly in shock as she watched the show. Alan then raised his leg up before sending his foot crashing through the zombie's skull while the remaining three continued running. Jamie ran forward, holding his arm straight out as it slammed it into the throat of another zombie, causing it to do a back flip before landing on its chest. In one swift motion, Jamie pulled out a pistol and shot the zombie in the back of the head before it could get up. Alan pulled out his machete and ran towards another zombie, wedging the blade deep within the monster's head. The last zombie ran straight for Jamie who pulled his combat knife out in front of him. The zombie continued running before the knife went through its forehead. Zoey's eyes widened even more before Jamie pulled his knife out, letting the zombie fall backwards. Doc glanced over, noticing Zoey's surprised expression.

"They don't have any sense of self preservation," the blonde doctor said.

"The zombies or those two," Zoey replied with a slight smirk.

Doc chuckled, "Both. For some reason Jamie loves standing in one spot while zombies run straight into his knife."

"Maybe he does it so he knows there are still things dumber than Alan," Zoey remarked. Doc pressed his lips together, attempting to stifle his laugh, but failed. Jamie and Alan turned with confused looks to Doc, Maria, and Zoey.

"What," Alan asked.

"They're probably talking about you," Jamie stated.

"Hey, if that's true then I…I…" Everyone turned to Alan who was looking to his right with a daunting look on his face. Jamie noticed what his friend was staring at, then got the exact same look on his face. "No…way…"

"Dude, is that a music store?! With all it's equipment still intact!?"

"YUP!" Jamie and Alan sprinted to the store, opening the door without any disregard of setting off an alarm. The other three quickly followed after them, entering the store. "I feel like a kid in a candy store!"

"I feel like a crackhead in a drughouse," Jamie shot back.

"Okay that one wins," Alan replied.

"Why are you guys freaking out," Doc asked.

"Dude, we're in a music store, loud ass shit, and it's all free," Alan stated. "What's not to freak out about?!"

"The fact that if we started playing we would alert a horde of zombies…"

"Come on, there aren't that many zombies here, plus I want to have some fun here." Jamie quickly looked for everything behind the counter. "Dude, they have CDs here!"

"Are we seriously doing this," Zoey asked.

"Yep," Alan replied.

"Cool." Zoey strode into the store, helping the guys looking for stuff. "We should probably hide her somewhere though shouldn't we?" Alan and Jamie lifted their heads to Maria then started looking across the store.

"Here's a supply closet…er, janitor's closet, some kind of closet that doesn't have Doc in it."

"Alan, if we survive this apocalypse I'm gonna shoot you…" Jamie opened the closet, seeing that the coast was clear and there were no ways of entering he waved Maria into it. Once she was safely in, Jamie dropped his pistol on the ground and kicked it into the closet before closing the door, not allowing the young girl to protest.

"Anywho, any requests?"

"Yes," Zoey exclaimed. "Three Days Grace!"

"I LOVE THIS CHICK!!" the goateed survivor screamed. "I call drums!"

"One problem: we can't play any of their songs," Doc stated.

"Don't worry; most of it is gonna be played over these massive speakers anyway," Alan said, picking up a speaker almost as big as he was. "We'll just pretend like we're playing the song."

"That works," Zoey smirked. Jamie and Alan spent around five minutes hooking the system up to their instruments. "We ready?"

"Just need to pop the CD in and let it ROCK baby," Alan replied.

"Let's do it," Jamie exclaimed as he approached the microphone. "Doing shit like this makes me feel like Tallahassee from Zombieland."

"Once you kill a Boomer with a banjo, then you can earn the right to feel like him," Zoey stated cockily.

"Whoo, this girl knows her zombie movies. Pop the CD in Alan and let's rock!"

Alan dropped the CD in the tray then closed it and quickly ran to the drums which had his assault rifle perched at the side. The drums also sat close to the closet where Maria hid for protection. The first song that played was Pain, which practically blew the speakers out immediately.

"Pain, without love, pain, I can't get enough, pain, I like it rough, because I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all," Jamie sang in perfect sync with the song. The song suddenly got heavy, the sounds rivaling the level of the approaching horde. "Get ready everyone!"

The words of the song continued without Jamie singing, as did the music as the zombies soon flooded towards the small music shop. Jamie swung the microphone stand at the first zombie, cracking its skull and ruining the stand. Doc then played the bass loudly, and not half bad, getting the attention of a few zombies which he soon whacked in the head with the instrument. Zoey swung upward with her electric guitar, smacking the nearest zombie in the chin and lifting it off the ground. The survivor then held the guitar normally and started playing even better than Doc did. The rhythmic music got a lot of the zombies' attention, but Zoey started firing rounds from her pistol which she held sideways.

'_PAIN! Without love! PAIN!'_ the song's chorus continued on.

"WHOO!! Devil May Cry, eat your heart out!"

"I FUCKING LOVE THIS CHICK," Jamie screamed over the speakers as he knifed a nearby zombie.

Alan, who wasn't being attacked by any zombies tilted his head from side to side and cracked his knuckles before grabbing his two drumsticks. Taking a deep breath, Alan started banging on the drums wildly, and almost expertly, matching the sounds and rhythms of the song still playing. This caught many of the zombies' attention as they now sprinted for the bulky survivor. Alan stopped and picked up two of the symbols off the drum set then ran towards the nearest zombie and smashed its head between the two flat golden plates.

"Now THAT is a zombie sandwich Zoey!"

Alan threw the symbols forward and turned around quickly, grabbing the nearest drum and slamming it over a zombie's head. The zombie wasn't hurt, but its arms were now firmly by it's side. Alan looked at the monster oddly before kicking it in the chest, knocking it on its back. The zombie-killing-machine pulled out his machete and started hacking away.

'_I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE WOUNDED!'_

Doc blasted through a two zombies with his shotgun before punching another in the face. Zoey continued shooting zombies with her pistol, and would attempt to play the guitar for a few seconds before having to shoot again. Jamie punched, pushed, and stabbed any zombies that were focusing on him, not finding enough time to pull out his magnum. Alan socked, and hacked away at zombies, as the song was almost over. The zombies were mostly gone as the song died down.

"Is that it," Zoey shouted due to her ears still ringing from the speakers.

"Doubt it," Doc shouted back. "Look!" The survivors looked forward, seeing a Tank rampaging through the mall, coming straight at the source of the loud noise.

"FUCK YES BABY!!" Alan excitedly grabbed his RPG and aimed.

"No! Quarters are too tight and you might miss!" Alan rolled his eyes and dropped his RPG. "Circle around it and find cover," Jamie ordered as he stabbed the last zombie in the chest.

The survivors all ran out of the store, shooting the Tank, while spreading out. This confused the Tank, as the massive monster looked back and forth between groups of two, deciding which to go after first. Finally it chose to go after Jamie and Zoey.

"Go, go, go," Zoey shouted to Jamie as she stopped for him to catch up.

The Tank was getting pelted in the back by Doc and Alan who chased after the massive monster. The zombie slammed its hands into the ground, tearing a chunk of the floor out and throwing it backwards at Doc and Alan. The two moved to the side and were thrown off balance by chunks of rock flying at them, allowing the Tank to continue pursuing Jamie and Zoey.

"Go cover Maria," Jamie shouted before he and Zoey rounded the corner. The Tank followed, disappearing from sight. Alan and Doc looked to each other quickly.

"You go check on Maria," Doc offered.

"Done, and take one of these." Alan replied as he handed Doc a grenade. The blonde nodded to his partner as they both ran their separate ways.

Jamie spun around, shooting the Tank in the chest with his magnum, causing the pursing beast to grunt in pain, but not slow. The survivor turned back around and followed Zoey. The female survivor turned and unloaded a few rounds from her combat shotgun into the Tank. The monster roared in rage and moved faster.

"Shit," Zoey screamed, firing off two more shots.

"To the book store," Jamie shouted, running towards said store. Zoey stopped firing and followed, loading two shots into her gun as she ran. The Tank ran followed after into the bookstore, punching a hole out of the nearest bookshelf while chasing the two survivors. "Split up!"

Zoey went left and Jamie went right. The Tank followed Zoey without losing a beat. Jamie came to a stop then ran after the Tank, shooting it with his magnum. The Tank stopped and tore the nearest bookshelf off of the ground before throwing it at Jamie. It was too big however, and a corner of it hit the wall and spun around, throwing books out everywhere. The Tank turned back around, seeing that Zoey was gone. In a rage, the Tank roared before charging at Jamie.

"Fuck my luck," the survivor muttered before raising his magnum up. A light 'tink' noise was heard, causing both the Tank and the survivor to pause. Both looked down at the Tank's feet, seeing a grenade resting there. A loud, ground shaking explosion erupted, blowing most of the Tank's front off, leaving a pile of bleeding meat and organs. "Fuck that things luck…" Jamie looked over, seeing Zoey and Doc standing at the entrance unharmed.

"That puts me in the lead right," Doc called out.

"Probably," Jamie replied, making his way to the other two. "I stopped counting. Where's Alan?"

"He went to check on Maria," Doc replied.

"Well let's hurry and get to the clothing store. I've had enough games to last for awhile…"

"Yeah, plus my feet hurt," Doc replied, rubbing his bare feet.


	5. Clothing Store

Alan- RPG, assault rifle, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, submachine gun, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

Jamie, Zoey, and Doc made their way back to the music store, finding Alan and Maria sitting on the bench across from the now bloodied and destroyed store. "Hey," Alan greeted. "All of the speakers and ruined to shit, and Maria's fine."

"Well I've had enough games for awhile," Jamie replied.

"You're not fun," Alan falsely pouted as he stood up with Maria. "Well let's go get Doc some new shoes since that's what this whole fucking trip has been about."

"Fuck you! We could get you a new face since that Jockey fucked it!"

"Oh that's a good one," Jamie said, smirking. "But seriously, I think we all need new clothes." The survivors moved through the rest of the mall with no zombies in sight.

"I guess our little concert really cleaned this place out," Doc said, his tone astonished.

"Told ya it was a good idea," Alan said cockily.

"You did not. We were all just hyped up until a Tank almost fucked me over with some books." Alan shrugged and waved his hand uncaringly as the gang continued forward. After a few minutes of walking, the survivors got to the clothing store. "Alright, Alan and Doc go shopping and try not to kill each other and-,"

"Wait, shouldn't we make sure this place is clear?" Everyone gave the same, menacing look at Alan, telling him to shut his mouth. "I'm just saying, who really wants clothes with bullet holes in it?"

"Can we have an Alan with bullet holes in it," Doc asked.

"No, but you two are going shopping together. I'm going with Zoey and Maria to the women's section so they don't get overwhelmed, and so they can shop in peace. Two in each group."

"Technically that's three," Doc replied.

"Two people with guns in each gun," Alan muttered. Jamie nodded in confirmation before he, Zoey, and Maria walked off. "Let's go, and don't steal any suits because this apocalypse will just ruin it." The other two walked into the store to the men's department.

Zoey and Jamie sat down, watching Maria looking through the clothing selection for girls her age. "I'm just making sure; we can get a lot of clothes if we find more than one we like right?"

"Of course," Jamie replied, glancing over at Zoey. The two sat in silence, watching the little girl taking her sweet time picking her clothes.

"So how're you holding up? Your injuries I mean?"

"I've been better," Jamie replied with a small laugh as he rubbed his shoulder. "I'll be fine though. Doc says I just need to take a few of these," Jamie shook a bottle of pain pills, "and avoid any more Chargers…and Tanks…and Witches."

"Yeah, those things suck," Zoey replied in a joking tone. Jamie smiled at the young girl before he felt something poke his knee. The two turned, seeing Maria holding up a bright blue T-shirt. "You can get that Maria."

"She wants to try it on," Jamie replied, turning to the young woman. "Um…she probably wants you to go with her."

"Oh, right! I can do that." Zoey quickly stood up and placed a hand on Maria's back, escorting her to the fitting rooms.

Alan sat on a bench, looking out for anything to shoot while Doc tried on a variety of fancy leather shoes. "What about these? Do these look good?"

"Are you fucking serious Doc? We're in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and you're worried about how your feet look? If anything you should get some thick boots to withstand that Spitter shit."

"I need to be comfortable while I'm making my escape from hordes of zombies ya know."

"Well how do good looking shoes make stuff more comfortable? Just go with what feels good and let's go."

"You're a horrible shopper. If anything you need new clothes more than the rest of us. You're covered in Boomer bile, zombie brains and about eight other things that even I can't identify."

"Nothing a shower can't cure," Alan fired back.

"If you find a working shower, I call first dibs." Alan scoffed then turned his head, watching the area around him carefully. "Seriously, get new clothes. I think part of the reason you attract zombies is because you have three day old Boomer bile encrusted into your pants. And I know you don't want those zombies taking a bite out of your dick."

"I fucking hate you man," Alan exclaimed as he stood up quickly. Doc smirked to himself as Alan walked away, knowing his comment hit home.

Back with the other survivors, Jamie lied back on the bench, staring at the ceiling. "Hey," Zoey's voice said. Jamie sat up, looking at the Zoey and Maria, the latter wearing her new bright blue shirt. "How does it look?"

"It looks pretty," Jamie replied, smiling to Maria. "Do you want more clothes?" Maria shook her head. "Alright, Zoey I guess it's your turn to get new clothes." Said girl's eyes widened briefly in shock, looking down at herself. Her attire was covered in blood, dirt, dried sweat, and several other unidentifiable substances that were nasty as sin. "Take your time."

"Can do," the female brunette replied. Maria sat down next to Jamie, holding his hand and leaning her head against his arm.

"You tired?" Maria nodded slowly, her eyes drooping. "You get tired way too easily for how long we've been doing this." The black haired girl stuck her lower lip out, staring at the floor. "Next safe house we get to we'll rest there okay? Promise." Maria smiled and closed her eyes, slowly falling asleep.

Alan took his jacket and shirt off, throwing the nasty pieces of cloth and leather on the ground and grabbing a dark green shirt that had a Chuck Norris joke on it. "Nice." Alan then looked at the shirt behind it and laughed. "Oh yeah baby!" He grabbed a dark red shirt that said 'If you like the guns,' and had two arrows pointing to the wearer's arms, 'then you'll love the rocket,' and had one more arrow pointing down to the wearer's crotch. "I am so getting this! I probably need a new jacket too…" The only selection of jackets the store had were various hoodies with sports teams on them. "With all the Hunters wearing those things, I'd probably get shot…"

"Get it," Doc said suddenly, causing Alan to jump and scream in shock.

"DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!" Doc now wore a wrinkled white dress shirt, and black khaki pants. Once Alan regained his composure he whistled mockingly, "Damn Doc, you clean up good for someone in the zombie apocalypse. You supposed to be going on a hot date or something?"

"Ha, ha, I just like to look good, so sue me."

"For looking that good I should."

"Let me see what you got." Alan held up the two shirts for Doc to see. "Oh, nice," the doctor said, laughing in amusement.

"I know right. I'm saving the rocket one though for a special occasion."

"Expecting to hit on some zombie chicks," Doc asked mockingly.

"You know it," the bulky survivor replied sarcastically. "Now what type of pants should I get?"

"Loose jeans, but not baggy, so you can avoid tripping over yourself as you run from zombies." Alan shot a look at Doc, raising a questioning eyebrow to his partner. "Or running to zombies, my bad."

"Thank ya sir," Alan replied. "Well let's go get some fucking jeans. Oh, we should probably get some for Jamie shouldn't we? What size does he wear?"

"Skinny and demanding," Doc replied.

"I said meant pants size, not body size and attitude. He's not that skinny."

"Skinnier than me."

"That's not skinny, that's just less than average."

Back with said survivor, he continued sitting on the bench, looking around while Maria slept peacefully on his arm. Zoey walked up, wearing a new, smaller pink jacket that only went above her stomach, a white tank-top, and faded blue jeans.

"You want to get extra clothes," Jamie asked. "It'll be awhile before we get another opportunity like this."

"I was gonna look through one more time, but I got some clothes for you to try on." Zoey held out black jeans, a dark red shirt, and a grey shirt under that. "I'm not sure if they fit you, but they look like they're the right sizes if you want to try them on."

"Sure, can you watch Maria for me though?" Zoey nodded once in response.

Jamie stood up slowly, placing a hand under Maria's head then lowering her slowly onto the bench. The young girl remained undisturbed, and Jamie walked off to the fitting rooms. Zoey sighed and looked around carefully just in case any zombies wandered in, or for her other friends. A few minutes later, Jamie came walking back in his new black shirt which had a black outlining of Dante from the Devil May Cry series. The survivor had a teasing smirk on his face as he stared at Zoey.

The latter smiled back, "What? I heard what you said whenever I made that Devil May Cry comment. And don't tell me that shirt isn't awesome."

"It is rather amazing. And the grey shirt I liked to, but Dante just needs more attention. Thanks a lot for the shirts." Zoey smiled again as Jamie walked to Maria. "Hey, Maria, wake up." The black haired girl slowly opened her eyes to Jamie. "We're moving on okay?" Maria sighed then placed her feet on the ground, holding Jamie's hand as they moved to find Doc and Alan.

Alan now wore his new Chuck Norris shirt, and a pair of loose blue jeans with a chain on one of the belt loops. "Now I wonder what someone like Alan would do with a chain like that," Zoey asked mockingly.

"Strangle a fucking Witch with it," Alan replied, his tone dead serious.

"If you die I'm not going to help you," Doc sighed out. "Oh, by the way we found this while we were shopping." Doc held up a rolled piece of paper. "It says there's an outpost just two miles outside of town."

"Two miles outside of town is nothing but wilderness, and Maria isn't immune remember?"

"Well we'll just have to find a really big fucking vehicle to drive us there," Alan replied. "This is the most info we've had about safety ever Jamie. We've always been running around from place to place, hoping to stumble to safety."

"If we can find a surefire way to get to this outpost without endangering Maria, I'm all for it. But we're not going to stumble around in the woods while without some kind of protection."

"We'll find something boss," Alan said. "We usually do. If nothing else, we can just burn the forest down and move through it."

"He scares me sometimes," Zoey whispered.

"He scares everyone…except zombies because they're stupider than he is," Doc replied. "Anyway, the outpost is west, and guess what? We're on the west part of town. All we got to do is some more walking and then we're out of here."

"Alright, well let's move out." The survivors moved to the exit, looking out of the windows, seeing a safe house on the other side of the parking lot, but no zombies to get in their way. "This seems a little…too convenient."

"Warning, alarm will sound if door is open," Alan read the sign. "So once this thing activates, we'll alert a piss ton of zombies…"

"And that's a really open area," Doc replied. "What about Maria?" Jamie placed his hand to his chin, thinking to himself for a moment.

"Alan, go get a shopping cart."

"Oh I like where this is heading!" The survivor ran back into the store to get the cart as Jamie turned to Zoey.

"How fast can you run?"

"Got first place in high school district track, and second place in college track," Zoey answered.

"Fuck me you're fast," Doc replied.

"You think you can run Maria to that safe house without her getting bit?"

"Well maybe, but there'd be zombies all over us and I'd need both hands to shoot."

"I'll give Maria a pistol. Hopefully she won't shoot you." Zoey rolled her eyes while Maria gripped Jamie's pant leg tightly. "But you're right, we need to think of a way to get the zombies off your back…"

"Maybe we could run out there first, get their attention and get a head start, clear a path and then those two run out of the mall while we cover them."

"It's better than sending them out first, but we'd need to cover the door just in case."

"Well," Alan exclaimed, running up with a shopping cart. "The door opens, one of us runs halfway out into the parking lot, another runs middle man, and another provides cover for them at the door."

"Okay, new game plan. Zoey, you'll run out as fast as you can and I'll follow you. You get to the safe house and secure it, I'll stand there halfway, and then Doc, you'll push Maria in the cart while Alan protects you. Any flaws with that?"

"What if I get pounced by a Hunter," Zoey asked.

"Grab its jacket, then roll it off," Alan replied. "I do it all the time."

"How quickly you think you can make it across that parking lot?"

"Um…maybe twenty or thirty seconds give or take."

"Alright, stay focused, don't worry about the zombies until you get to the safe house. We'll keep you covered, but then it's up to you to do the same for us. Once Zoey gets to the safe house, Doc and Alan, you two make a break for it with Maria."

"Can do boss," Alan replied. "You'd better keep her safe Doc.

"I'll protect her with my life," the blonde replied. Jamie walked up and handed Maria his pistol.

"Take this so you can help Doc and Alan, okay?" Maria reluctantly nodded and fearfully gripped the pistol in her hand. "Ready?" Alan and Doc nodded. "Ready Zoey?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," the female replied.

"GO!!" Zoey and Jamie threw the doors open as the alarm blared loudly.

The cry of an oncoming horde was heard as Zoey and Jamie ran as quickly as their legs carried them. Slowly, Zoey started moving ahead of Jamie before she completely exploded forward, heading straight to the safe house. Jamie stopped halfway into the parking lot and turned around, seeing a sea of zombies coming at him.

"Fuck me," the survivor wheezed as he pulled out a submachine gun.

Zoey continued sprinting as quickly as possible and luckily no zombies got in her way before she successfully made it to the safe house door. She attempted to push it open, but the door was jammed.

"SHIT!" Zoey pushed harder, slamming her shoulder into the red metal door. "Open, please fucking open, please open!" The survivor continued pushing harder and harder, eventually popping the door open which caused Zoey to stumble into the room. "Jamie!" Said survivor was spraying bullets from his submachine gun into the oncoming infected, unable to hear Zoey screaming at her. "Fucking A, JAMIE!!" This time, the survivor managed to hear, turning his head to see Zoey standing in the doorway safe and sound.

"Alright, fucking zombies!" Jamie continued gunning the mindless infected down as he noticed a car alarm chirping. "Why not?!" Jamie shot the car, setting the car alarm off. A large number of the zombies then ran towards the car, wanting to silence the obnoxious noise. A large number of zombies still came at Jamie who continued gunning them down.

At the entrance of the mall, Alan and Doc were shooting a few oncoming zombies down, but the majority were focused on Jamie. "Fuck this, we've got to go," Doc shouted.

"Fuck it, do it!" Alan threw his shotgun into the shopping cart, "Hold on Maria!" The little girl held onto the side of the cart as Doc shot forward with Alan running right behind him, shooting oncoming zombies.

Jamie turned to the mall, noticing the rest of his team coming for him. The survivor turned, continuing to shoot the other zombies and got ready to run for the safe house. Eventually, Jamie began running, staying ahead of Doc and Maria a little ways while Alan covered their rear. Zoey remained at the doorway of the safe house, clutching her pistol and watching her team running desperately towards her. The zombies followed the survivors in a giant mob.

"Come on," Zoey whispered. "You can do it, come on!"

Jamie was the first to make it, stopping just a few feet from the safe house door, and firing at a few oncoming zombies. Zoey moved to the side as Doc and Maria rolled into the safe house. Alan met up with Jamie and turned, helping his friend gun down the wave of zombies while both slowly moved back to the safe house. Eventually, both turned and ran into the safe house, allowing Zoey to slam to the door shut.

"Shit that was pretty fucking cool," Alan sighed out, as all the survivors panted heavily.


	6. Strip Joint

Alan- RPG, assault rifle, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, submachine gun, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

After a moment to catch their breath, the survivors got up and explored their new safe house. "Any idea where we are," Zoey asked.

"Well," Doc began as he gingerly grabbed a poster on the wall. "Judging by the suggestive picture here I'd say we're in a strip club…"

"Say what," Jamie asked in horror.

"No fucking way," Alan exclaimed. "We get to shoot naked zombies now!? OH THAT'S SO FUCKIN COOL!!"

"This reminds me of a horrible movie I once watched…"

"Zombie strippers," Jamie finished his tone full of hysterical, in a bad way. "The one thing Alan didn't need is zombie strippers…"

"What, you think I'm gonna do something stupid?"

"You ALWAYS do something stupid," Doc shot back. "Problem is, now it'll probably involved sticking a gun barrel between a zombie's boobs then blowing her brains out."

"Hey…now there's an idea…"

"Stop talking Doc, for the love of all that's sane, stop talking!"

"How long are we waiting before we can go shoot up some fucking zombies! I'm pumped now!"

"I promised Maria we'd take a rest," Jamie replied. "And I'm not in the mood to do anything after that much running."

"Awe, you pussy…" Alan walked around, exploring his new surroundings while the rest of his team did the same. "Nice, graffiti…" Zoey walked up, looking at the wall covered with different writing. "I love reading these nutjobs writing their stupid theories all, then laughing at them."

"Some of this stuff can be sad," Zoey replied.

"True…but I just don't read those…"

"Man, there were either a lot of people in this safe house, or a few very bored individuals," Doc said, staring at the walls in another room with Jamie and Maria. "Well let's see here: 'they're changing, oh god, they're changing.' No shit Einstein…"

"Some people can't handle change," Jamie muttered back. "Oh look at this one: 'they're not zombies! They're rapists now! There's a new, small zombie that jumps on your face.' Alan knows that one alright."

"Oh lookie here, 'they spit stuff at you now, watch out.' Yeah…those suck. Oh look at this genius: 'those are fat-boys you idiot, and they don't spit, they puke.' Are these people stupid?"

"Not all of them; 'those fat-boys are called Boomers dumb ass.' So at least our name dubbing is more popular than theirs."

"Nah, it's more creative is all," Doc replied.

"Oh now look at this," Alan said to Zoey. "This is the question of the decade: 'who could win in a match? Those large things or the things with claws?'"

"Hands down a Tank," Zoey answered.

"Bull shit, Tanks are stupid. A Witch would turn that giant fucker into sliced deli meat!"

"Yeah, but a Tank could snap a Witch in half if it got its hands on one. Those Witches are way too skinny, it'd be like snapping a twig."

"Well yeah, but Witches are so fucking fast, it's not even funny. Faster than you I bet."

"Bull shit," Zoey scoffed, waving her hand out. "I've outran Witches before and it's nothing special."

"Well screw you too, I wasn't a super track star like you." Zoey smirked then walked out of the room, looking around the safe house once again. The safety room had the two rooms the survivors were looking in and another door covered in a red, cushioned velvet.

"Wonder what's in here," Zoey asked herself before pushing the door open, her shotgun raised. Inside was a room with a giant heart shaped bed and two couches, a mini-fridge, and a few other supplies for a zombie apocalypse. "Oh now this is a room with personality…" The other survivors came in with mixed reactions. Doc and Jamie looked disgusted while Alan had a perverted look on his face.

Maria, in her youthful ignorance, ran towards the bed, alarming all the survivors who cried out simultaneously, "DON'T!!" The black haired girl stopped herself, almost falling face first into the shag rug.

"I am so not sleeping on that bed," Doc stated. Maria turned around, giving a confused look to the older survivors. "And someone has to tell her why." The others shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with Maria and each other. Doc sighed then rolled his eyes. "Okay, Maria certain people do…things in that bed that are…well nasty."

"Just imagine that a bunch of people puked in that bed…a lot of different people…at different times." Maria raised her eyebrow questioningly towards Alan before giving another look to the soft looking bed. "Just trust us: you DON'T want to sleep in that bed."

"Well they might clean these beds actually," Jamie piped up. The other survivors turned, giving questioning looks to their makeshift leader. "What…my uncle goes to a lot of strip joints…you'd never catch me in a place like this…unless it was in a situation like this…"

"Anyone have one of those blue light things?" Alan asked as he explored the room. "I'm not touching that bed or those couches until I find one."

"Yeah, I'd like to at least know if the most comfortable things I've had to lie on is covered with sperm or not."

"DOC," Alan and Jamie shouted in unison, pointing to Maria, who still remained completely oblivious.

"Right, sorry, I'll just shut up now." The survivors moved into different rooms, Alan and Doc in one of the other rooms while Jamie and Zoey explored the other. The latter two explored in silence.

"So," Zoey began, deciding to break the ice. "What's your uncle like?" Jamie stopped and veered his head around in shock. "You mentioned your uncle, how he went to strip clubs and stuff right?"

"Oh, right. Why do you want to know about him?"

"Well, I'd like to get to know my new team better, and I figured this would be as good a place as any to start." Jamie looked back at the pile of junk he was rummaging through before leaning back against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Well, he's on my mother's side of the family, was the oldest, and kinda rebellious."

"How so," Zoey asked, sitting on a nearby cabinet.

"Well he usually did things his own way, which, once he was old enough, evolved in illegal actions. He drifted a lot, not telling anyone where he was and popping in and out for visits. I always loved him though, and my mom tolerated him whenever he came to visit because of it."

"Why'd you like him so much? Why didn't your mom like him?"

"My mom didn't like him because she didn't like his personal choices. I liked him because my dad was never there, and whenever my uncle came to visit, he'd usually have a gift for me. He taught me how to ride a bike, gave me some pointers on how to drive a car, he even gave me advice on how to talk to the ladies."

"Wow, sounds like a great guy."

"Yeah, but I did see my mom's side of things. He made bad choices, a few of the gifts he gave us we weren't sure if they were stolen or not, but they were still nice gifts of course."

"So what was his name again?"

"My uncle's name is Nick," Jamie replied with a small smirk. "He's a conman with a heart for his family. Last I saw him he said he was heading south to get some easy money from stupid rednecks."

"Now that's real easy money," Zoey agreed with a small laugh.

"So what about you, do you have any family like that?"

"Just my parents," Zoey replied. "I never had any brothers or sisters, or really close aunts or uncles. Kinda sucks…"

"I can imagine…"

"Found the green light," Alan called out.

"Idiot, it's a black light!"

"Whatever, now to scan our beds!" Zoey and Jamie walked out of the room and headed back for the private rooms. The survivors milled around the bed as Alan held the black light. "Alright, this is it guys…moment of truth…"

"Just scan the damn thing," Jamie ordered. Doc flipped off the lights, and Alan flipped the black light on. "Oh thank god." There appeared to be no nasty substance on the bed. Alan pulled the sheets off and again, clean as could be.

"Alright, so I call-," Before Alan could finish his sentence, Maria jumped on the bed first. The bulky survivor's eyes widened in anger while Maria only gave a taunting smile.

"I guess there are advantages of not talking," Jamie murmured. "Scan the couches too." Alan blindly waved his new toy around in the dark, eventually finding the couches, which were both as clean as the bed. "Alright, I call the couch."

"What, how is that fair," Alan complained.

"How do you think those zombies would reach to that black light Alan?"

"Ooh, that's a good question! Be right back!" Alan ran towards the door, turning on the lights before he left.

"Zoey, you can get the other couch, Doc…have fun on the shag with Alan."

"Oh that's the biggest load of-,"

"I can give up the couch," Zoey cut off. "It's not a big deal for me." Maria poked Jamie before he could protest, then pointed to the bed. "I am not taking that bed from Maria."

"No, I think she'd like to know if you're comfortable with sharing the bed," Jamie asked. Both Zoey and Doc gave puzzled looks towards Jamie. "What? Someone has to understand what she means." The two girls turned to one another, the younger nodding to confirm Jamie's statement.

"Well…if she's okay with it, then I guess I'm sharing a bed with Maria. But what about Alan?"

"NO FUCKING WAY! Guys come look at these zombies! So fucking funny!" Doc rolled his eyes while Jamie simply chuckled.

"He'll be entertained most of the night. He just needs a few hours of sleep and he'll be fine."

"You sure," Zoey pressed with concern.

"Oh yeah, Alan has gone two days straight on only five hours of sleep one time," Doc replied. "I don't know how he does it, but hey, he's a beast."

"Hey, is anyone gonna look at this?! Seriously, it's fucking funny!"

"Yeah, yeah hold on Alan," Jamie called out. "You guys can go to bed if you want." The rest of the team nodded before Jamie exited the room.

"Look at em attacking the one area of light!" Alan waved the black light around in the next room, and three zombies chased the light on the wall like cats. "This is so fucking sweet! Can I keep it?"

"As long as you don't run the battery down first." Alan sighed then flicked the switch off before placing the light on the ground. "You coming to bed?"

"Yeah…I get the floor right?" Jamie leaned forward a bit, looking at his friend's face.

"What's wrong…?"

"Meh, I'm just tired I guess. It feels like I'm losing hope or something…weird right?" Jamie smiled and sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"I didn't know you had hope Alan. I just thought your drive came from murdering every last zombie with your bare hands."

"Yeah, but even I can get tired of that. I dunno…maybe I just need sleep."

"You're starting to scare me buddy. You getting tired of killing zombies is like a stripper having too many ones in her G-string." Alan scoffed with a smirk on his face, turning to his partner. "That was just a convenient analogy."

"You think this base outside of town is right or is it gonna be overrun with zombies?"

"Hopefully the first," Jamie sighed out. "But who knows. Let's just get there first and pray that there are some survivors left."

"And if there aren't any…?"

"You'd better hope your RPG comes in handy then. Come on, let's go sleep."

"Alright," Alan replied as he stood up. "Let's get to sleep." The two survivors left the door and headed into the bedroom.

…

A pile of dead zombies lied around the survivors who stood in a tight circle. After they realized everything was dead, the group began to move on again. "Damn it, I think we're running low on ammunition," Bill pointed out. "We'd better get to a safe house soon people!"

"Keep your beard on old man," Francis replied as he slung his shotgun on his shoulder. "We'll be fine like always."

"Francis is right," Louis agreed. "I've got a good feeling about this guys!" Zoey smiled at her team before focusing back on her surroundings.

Suddenly, the scream of a Smoker echoed throughout the alleyway, alerting the survivors who scanned the alley and the rooftops. Suddenly, a tongue wrapped around Bill's legs, pulling them together before being yanked back violently. A sickening snapping noise was heard and Bill screamed out in pain.

"BILL," Louis and Zoey shouted out. Francis turned around and fired a round from his pistol through the Smoker's head, killing it in a cloud of smoke. The survivors ran up to Bill who was on the ground, throwing the Smoker's tongue off of him.

"Bill are you okay," Louis asked. The veteran groaned while Louis looked at his leg. "Oh shit…"

…

Zoey awoke in a strange room. The young woman got up and rubbed one of her eyes before everything started coming back to her. Zoey looked at her new, and currently, sleeping team. She wanted to get angry at all the zombies that kept screwing her over, but her new team helped ease her pain and anger. Zoey quietly stood up and walked out of the room to let her team sleep in peace. The survivor sighed and picked up her weapons in the hall then walked over to the back door. She looked out of the slot and saw only a few zombies stumbling around the open area. Zoey sighed then leaned back against the wall and slid down onto her behind. She wrapped her arms over her knees and placed her chin on top of them. The memory of her old team, her old friends still haunted her. No matter how much she wanted to or tried to, the memories stayed.

After half an hour, Doc woke up, surprised to see Zoey already awake. The two didn't talk much as Doc scrounged around for any supplies that he could find. Jamie was the next to wake up, offering more social conversation than Doc. By the second hour, Alan and Maria were both awake and the team was ready to head out.

"Alan," Jamie asked, turning to said survivor. "Do you want to take point?"

"Oh hell yes!" Alan kicked open the door, alerting the five zombies in the room that charged towards the survivors.

Alan swung his machete downward, imbedding his blade halfway through the zombie's skull. The survivor then yanked his arm back out of the infected zombie's skull and punched a zombie stripper in the face, causing her to stumble back. Doc fired a shot into another zombie's chest before it could get to his partner. Jamie fired a magnum round through another zombie's forehead, blowing half of its head off. The zombie stripper got up quickly as Alan strode up and swung his blade like a baseball bat, cleaving the zombie's head off its shoulders.

"Alright, now that that's over, let's get moving," Zoey piped up, taking point.

"You heard the lady," Alan exclaimed excitedly.

"Wrong," Jamie replied. "Alan, you're taking care of Maria until we get out of this place." Alan's shoulders slumped down and his jaw dropped.

"Dude, that's not cool!"

"I don't care. It's the only way to keep you under control until we get out of this place. So, protect Maria now." Alan sighed then walked over next to the little girl, placing his gloved hand on her back. "Zoey, you may continue." Said girl nodded then moved further into the strip club.

The gang walked out on the main stage with two poles off to the side and one up at the head of the stage. The team walked up on the stage, spotting no zombies in the area.

"Dang it, what's the point in killing zombie strippers if there are no zombie strippers?" Alan sighed, putting his shotgun on his shoulder. "Hey Zoey, can you do that thing where the girls hang upside down and click their heels together?" Without warning, a shot fired right above Alan's head, barely missing the hairs on his head. The bulky survivor, and the rest of the survivors dove to the ground in haste. "SHIT!! IT WAS A JOKE!!" Zoey walked up, placing a shoe on Alan's back, pinning him to the ground as she cocked the shotgun again.

"Make that joke again, I dare you, say it and see if you don't have a hole in your head."

"I-I was kidding Zoey I swear…" Alan felt the pressure of Zoey's foot off hit back and slowly turned his head. The female survivor was smirking with her shotgun slung over her shoulders.

"I was kidding too Alan. Take a fucking joke man." The survivors all turned to each other, every one of them with the same surprised look, and then back to Zoey whose expression remained unchanged. "Yeah, your humor isn't so funny is it?"

"I never threatened to shoot anyone," Alan exclaimed, standing up quickly. "That's not funny!" Just then, a small snickering was heard. Alan wheeled around, looking at Doc who had a hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I almost get shot and you think it's funny!?"

"It is kinda funny," Doc admitted.

"How about I shoot at you and see if it's so funny!" Suddenly, another gunshot hit the ceiling above Alan's head, prompting the bulky survivor to hit the floor immediately. In response, Jamie burst out in uncontrollable laughter. "WHAT THE HELL MAN!? WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"That actually is really funny," Jamie shouted out between his laughter. "You practically pissed your pants!"

"I swear to god I'm gonna-," The ceiling then came crashing down, causing all of the survivors to scatter. A Witch then jumped onto the stage, glaring at all of the humans with murderous intent in its bloodshot eyes. "Great, you startled the Witch, Jamie!"

The infected woman instead saw Maria and charged towards her, screeching with her arms outstretched. Zoey fired her shotgun into the Witch, causing the infected to stumble to the side while Maria ran for dear life. The infected woman continued towards Maria who now hid behind a turned over table. Alan hurled his machete across the room towards the Witch. The blade imbedded into its back, causing the Witch to screech in pain before veering around, glaring at Alan. The Witch then charged at Alan who pulled out his assault rifle and began firing into its frail body. The Witch continued forward, the bullets flying right through her. Alan got up on stage and moved behind a pole that was in his way. The Witch swung forward at Alan's head, the latter ducking right before her claws could hit. Alan pushed on the Witch's arm, breaking its elbow over the pole. The Witch once again screeched in pain before taking a step back. Alan pressed down on the trigger of his gun, but the clip was out of ammunition. The Witch growled as it took a step towards Alan who in response took a step back. The infected screamed before it got ready to charge before its face blew outward towards Alan. The Witch fell to the ground, revealing Zoey's smoking shotgun barrel.

"Cry about that bitch," Zoey exclaimed before lowering her weapon.

"Damn," Alan muttered as he walked towards Zoey. "Is Maria okay?" Jamie and Doc walked up, the former holding the little girls' hand.

"She's fine," Jamie replied.

"Great, I need more ammo boss." Doc crouched on his knee, placing the duffel bag on the ground and unzipping it. He looked around, moving medkits and ammunition aside.

"Uh…I'm not seeing any assault rifle clips buddy."

"Great, so now I can use my-,"

"No you're not using your RPG," Jamie cut off. Alan grimaced then crossed his massive arms to pout. "Get your machete out of the Witch and let's keep moving." Alan pulled his blade out of the Witch's back, kicked the corpse once, then followed his team. "What's the map say is outside of the strip club Doc?"

"Uh…apparently a McDonalds…who wants to gain die of a heart attack instead of zombies?"

"That's cold man," Alan replied. "I had to work in a McDonalds for nearly a year."

"What happened after the year?"

"I found the beauty and money of cage fighting." The gang made it outside, staring at the McDonalds right across the street. "Let's get ready to fuck some shit up babies!"


	7. McDonalds

Alan- RPG, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, submachine gun, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

--

The survivors silently moved into the McDonalds, Jamie at point, scanning the area carefully. The restaurant was larger than most McDonalds' it's size almost like that of a small house.

"Now this is a place to have some unhealthy cheeseburgers," Alan exclaimed.

"Enough cracks about McDonalds already," Doc replied. "I'm sick and tired of your bitching!" Suddenly, a strange moaning noise was heard, causing all the survivors to tense up. The gargled noise continued as they tried to identify the noise, but it was strange to them.

"What the fuck is that," Jamie asked.

"Oh I bet it's that one bitch that burned my shoes!" Doc ran back towards the kitchen recklessly.

"Doc you idiot, wait!" Suddenly a Hunter came around the corner and screamed at the survivors. Jamie turned, firing his gun at the infected that quickly fled back around the corner. "Damn it! I'll go after the Hunter. Alan, Zoey get Maria somewhere safe!"

"Now who's the reckless one," Alan muttered as Jamie ran after the Hunter. "Come on, no sense in waiting around here." The three survivors ran towards a nearby closet when suddenly the ground beneath Alan collapsed. The bulky survivor fell into a basement area that was extremely dark with only a few patches of light.

"Alan, are you okay," Zoey asked.

"I'm fine, get Maria to safety. I'll catch up with you!" Zoey nodded then ran off with Maria. Alan got up, readjusting the RPG on his back before picking up his machete. Suddenly, a strange gurgling noise was heard, causing Alan to freeze with terror. "No way…" The gurgling noise continued. "A fucking Boomer and all I have is a machete!? BULLSHIT!!"

Doc turned a corner, keeping an eye out for the Spitter, desiring nothing more than revenge even though it was a totally different infected than before. Doc turned the corner, seeing nothing. A strange groaning noise that sounded like a rusty door opening was heard and a loud hacking sound was heard. Doc ran to the nearest wall as a pool of acid formed around where he was standing. The survivor looked up, seeing the Spitter run away.

"Oh no you don't you long necked bitch! Get over here!" Doc chased after the Spitter and fired at her, landing only one good hit. "Fucking bitch, I'm gonna gut you!" Doc turned into the room the Spitter was in, only to see the infected woman standing right in front of him. "Shit," Doc screamed as he ducked under the zombie's claw.

The razor sharp fingers clawed through the wall effortlessly, but Doc managed to melee the Spitter with the side of his gun. The zombie stumbled back, clawing at the nearby metal shelves stacked with supplies. The shelves were knocked over, blocking Doc from getting to her. The Spitter made its distinctive sound again before spitting at Doc once again. Doc ran and dove out of the doorway as a pool of acid filled the room. The blonde got up and looked at the Spitter running away again.

"Fucking bitch," Doc murmured.

Jamie slowly moved through the loading area in McDonalds, keeping an eye out for the Hunter that he could hear growling. "Fucking bastard, where are you hiding," Jamie whispered to himself. "Come out and I'll shoot you in the face…"

Suddenly, the Hunter screeched, jumping through one of the shelves, colliding with Jamie, knocking the survivor down onto his back. The collision caused Jamie's submachine gun to go flying halfway across the room. The Hunter ran at the survivor who then pulled out his pistol and fired at the zombie twice. Both shots hit, but the Hunter still managed to jump off into cover. Jamie quickly got up and moved to get his submachine gun, but the scream of a Smoker caught his attention.

"Fuck me!" Just then, a long tongue wrapped itself around Jamie's body and yanked him back.

Zoey and Maria headed towards into the bathrooms and turned the light switch on. Inside were two normal zombies, which caught both ladies by surprise. Zoey shot the first one clean through the forehead, while the second lunged forward, tackling the survivor to the ground. The zombie then turned its attention to Maria who trembled and screamed as the zombie slowly got up. Maria ran and the zombie chased after her. The little girl then threw open a stall door which impacted violently into the zombie's face, causing it to stop momentarily. Maria screamed as she saw the damage she caused to the zombie's now broken nose. The infected zombie then ran at Maria again who ran away. The little girl jumped into one of the stalls, trying to slam the door behind her. The zombie managed to catch the door as it bounced open and saw Maria for only a second before the little girl kicked him in the face. The zombie stumbled back, screeching in anger before it ran back into the stall, this time not seeing Maria. The little girl climbed up inside the stall, and then slammed both feet into the back of the zombie's head, forcing its face into the toilet. Maria scrambled out of the stall, accidently flushing the toilet in the process. The zombie got up and screamed, toilet water flying from its face and hair as it ran to Maria again. This time, the black haired little girl tripped and fell down, allowing the zombie to catch up.

"No you don't," Zoey shouted as she managed to get behind the zombie and move her arm around its neck. The zombie tried moving towards Maria, futilely biting at the air. "Mother fucker, stay away from her!" Zoey placed her other arm behind the zombies head and twisted its head. There was a satisfying snap from the zombie's neck as the body fell over lifelessly. Zoey sighed then stood up, kicking the zombie once to make sure it was dead. She walked over to Maria and helped the shaking little girl up. "You did a great job defending yourself," Zoey assured Maria. The girl wrapped her arms around Zoey, clutching to her tightly. "It's okay, we'll wait here for the others okay?" Maria nodded, not bearing to open her eyes.

Alan slowly moved through the darkness holding his machete, trying to listen for out close the Boomer was. "This is fucked up! Even if I knew where the bastard was I can't get close or else he'll throw up on me! And if I could get close to him, this is all I have and he'd explode on me! This isn't fair!" The gurgling of the Boomer could be heard in the darkness, waiting for Alan. "Lord, if you're listening, give me a sign…or a gun."

The Boomer made a belching sound, which startled Alan who dove to the side. While the survivor was in the air, the Boomer threw up violently. All of its bile landed on the ground, covering it in green goo. Alan got up quickly and punched the Boomer hard in the face, causing it to stumble and fall on its back. The fat zombie flailed its arms and legs, trying to get up. Alan snickered with amusement before relaxing his arms.

"Now that's fucking funny. You're like a fucking turtle now." The Boomer then rolled onto its side and pushed itself up. "Oh fuck me…" Alan then hauled ass the opposite direction before the Boomer turned back around.

Jamie was being pulled up by the Smoker's tongue that constricted tightly around his chest. The survivor started desperately gasping for air while fighting against the Smoker's tongue. Jamie started being pulled up the shelves of storage, eventually using one of them to get a proper footing. With all of his strength, Jamie pushed himself forward on his legs, slightly overpowering the Smoker, giving the tongue some slack. With this, Jamie reached down to his thigh and pulled out his combat knife, cutting the Smoker's tongue off. The survivor hit the ground with a painful thud and slowly pushed himself off the ground. The Smoker jumped down from the scaffolding and walked up to Jamie who hadn't noticed it yet. The survivor looked over seeing the Smoker now running at him. Jamie raised his pistol, but was kicked in the face by the Smoker. The impact caused Jamie to hit the ground again while the Smoker placed a foot on the human's chest. The infected raised its claw, ready to strike, but Jamie stabbed his combat knife into the Smoker's ankle. The lanky zombie coughed in pain as it stumbled back on one foot. Jamie got up, shaking his head clear before he walked towards the Smoker who tried to hobble away.

"The day a fucking Smoker kills me…" Jamie grabbed a crowbar and clutched it tightly, ready to vent his anger. "Is the fucking day," the survivor swung the crowbar at the Smoker's body, cracked a few of its ribs. The zombie fell over on its side and tried squirming away. "That won't be coming anytime soon!"

Jamie then dropped his knife, holding onto the crowbar with both hands before he began whacking the injured infected ruthlessly. After a few good hits, the Smoker's body released a cloud of blinding smoke. Jamie coughed and walked out, covering his mouth. The survivor dropped the crowbar and placed his hands on his knees, taking a minute to catch his breath.

"Fuck that felt good." The smoke cleared and Jamie walked back up to pick up his combat knife. The survivor then remembered the Hunter and tensed up. Taking a moment to listen, he didn't hear another sound. "Fuck," Jamie ran back towards the main section of the McDonalds, knowing the Hunter had left to take on other prey.

Doc made it through the storage room and followed the trail of acid that the Spitter left behind. "You can run but you can't hide you fat bitch!"

Doc turned into a kitchen area, walking towards a stove carefully. The blonde curiously inspected a random spatula before a Spitter tackled him from behind, wrapping its arms around his body tightly. Doc screamed in surprise as he struggled to fight back. The Spitter's acid dripped onto the back of Doc's neck, causing him to scream in pain.

"Sorry, but you're not my type!" Doc lifted his feet up, placing them onto the stove and pushed himself back, somehow turning on the grease burners at the same time.

The Spitter stumbled back and smacked into the back counter, releasing Doc in the process. Doc stood up, raising his fists up to his face and punched the Spitter in its stomach. Acid poured rapidly out of the zombie's mouth on impact, something Doc took note of. The Spitter swiped at Doc's head, but the survivor ducked and punched the Spitter in the neck. The zombie stumbled back again, screeching in pain.

"Whoo, boxing with Spitters, I'm sure Alan would love this!" The Spitter swung his head upward, unleashing a cloud of acid which barely connected to Doc's shoulder. "AH, FUCKING BITCH!!"

Doc lifted his leg up, delivering a swift kick to the Spitter's stomach, causing the zombie to release a waterfall of acid. Luckily, the blonde managed to pull his leg back in time and took a step back as the Spitter clutched its stomach, groaning in pain. Doc turned around to the burners, just now realizing they were on. He also noticed the spatula he examined earlier was in the grease. With deviousness in mind, Doc grabbed the handle of the spatula and pulled it out, letting the dangerously hot grease drip for a moment before smacking the Spitter in the side of the face with it. The Spitter screamed a shrill scream of pain as it stumbled to the side, holding its face on the point of impact.

"Yeah, how does that feel? You like that bitch?" Doc grabbed the full container of grease and lifted it up, throwing the boiling liquid onto the Spitter's body. The zombie once again screeched in pain as it writhed around. "Not so much fun to be fucked over with acid is it bitch?" Doc then pulled out his pistol as the Spitter turned around, anger filling its eyes and acid readily dripping from its mouth. Without delay, Doc shot the Spitter right between the eyes. The fat zombie fell backwards in a lifeless heap. Doc holstered his pistol then picked up his assault rifle. "Death by hamburger grease, Alan is totally gonna love this one."

Said survivor meanwhile was still playing hide and seek with the Boomer, unable to find a way to escape. "This is karma isn't it? I killed so many zombies that now I'm going to be killed by this fat ass bastard, this sucks!" The Boomer belched again, causing Alan to tense and turn before diving for cover again. "Shit, this fucker is playing on my nerves!" Alan then ran into something and turned around. Unable to see what it was, the survivor felt it for a moment, realizing it was a ladder. "Oh sweet cream Jesus thank you!" Alan quickly climbed up the ladder and got to the top, realizing that it was blocked off. "FUCK!!" Alan pushed and punched his only means of escape before he remembered something. "Machete, duh!" The bulky survivor started hacking away at the wooden door between him and safety, eventually breaking through and climbing up desperately. Alan heard the Boomer trying to follow him. "Oh fucking hell to the no fat bastard!" Alan looked around for anything he could throw, finding a table. The survivor grabbed it and wedged it into the entrance to the cellar, preventing the Boomer from following him. "HA, HA, HAAAA FUCKER!! ALAN KICKED YOUR ASS FAT BITCH!!"

"Alan," Doc's voice called out. The bulky survivor turned around, seeing the blonde doctor coming towards him. "Dude you'll never guess what happened!"

"No, you have no idea man! I was just-,"

"Doc, Alan," Jamie exclaimed as he ran up. The brunette panted heavily, covered in sweat and blood and stunk of smoke.

"Dude, what the fuck happened to you," Alan asked. "You look like shit."

"Whatever happened it couldn't have been good for his injuries," Doc added.

"Did either of you two kill a Hunter?" Both shook their heads. "Where'd Zoey and Maria go?" Both shrugged. "Fuck!" Jamie then ran past Doc and Alan, who shrugged to each other and followed.

Zoey and Maria stayed in the bathrooms, not daring to sit on the floors though, even before the zombie apocalypse. The low growling of a Hunter was heard, alerting both girls. Zoey stepped towards the door, her shotgun raised to the door. Shockingly, the Hunter dove out of the vents, pouncing Zoey onto the ground and knocking her shotgun out of reach. The Hunter threw its arms at Zoey who caught the zombie's wrists and held him back. The zombie growled in defiance, slowly overpowering Zoey. Then, the Hunter turned to Maria with an interested look. Zoey rolled the Hunter towards the door and pulled out her pistol. The Hunter clawed Zoey's hand quickly. She dropped her pistol as blood came out of the claw marks on her hand. The Hunter grabbed Zoey by the shoulders then threw her to the ground violently. The zombie then turned to Maria and crouched, ready to pounce. The little girl trembled, overcome with so much fear that she couldn't bring herself to move. The Hunter jumped forward, but only a few inches before its face smacked into the ground. Zoey crawled up on the Hunter, pinning its arms and legs to the floor.

"Maria, grab my pistol and shoot it," Zoey shouted. Maria hesitated for a moment, looking at the pistol and then at the thrashing Hunter. "Hurry!"

The Hunter rolled over, throwing Zoey onto her back. The zombie stood up and clawed Zoey just below her collar bone. The survivor screamed in agony and fell over onto the floor.

"Zoey!"

The Hunter and Zoey looked over at Maria who was now running for the pistol. The Hunter crouched and got ready to spring forward again. Zoey used her foot to swing open a nearby stall door, smacking into the side of the Hunter, causing it to stumble to the side. Maria grabbed the pistol and aimed carefully, before hitting the Hunter in the shoulder. The zombie shrieked for a moment, before Maria squeezed the trigger again, and again, and again, the last bullet whizzing through the zombie's skull. The Hunter fell over dead, blood oozing from its body. Maria quickly ran over to Zoey who struggled to stand up. The three boys entered, hearing the gunshots, and looked over at the girls.

"What happened," Jamie asked.

"Who killed these guys," Alan questioned, pointing to two normal zombies and one freshly killed Hunter. "Holy shit, that zombie tried to do a one-eighty with its head!"

"No it didn't idiot," Doc snapped. "Someone broke its neck…shit that's actually cool. You haven't even done that yet have you Alan?"

"There's still a lot of zombies to kill, don't you worry."

"Zoey, are you okay," Jamie asked, moving towards the injured survivor.

"Just fine," Zoey lied, placing her hands on her wounds. The survivor gasped at the unexpected stinging she felt and almost fell over if not for Jamie.

"We need to find any place safe," Jamie said, turning to Alan and Doc.

"Safe house in the strip house, but there could be zombies there by now," Alan suggested.

"There is a bookstore across the street," Doc said. "I saw it while chasing the Spitter. The front door is a safe house from what I saw."

"Then that's where we're heading," Jamie said. "Here." The survivor pulled out a bottle of pills, pouring a couple into his hand. "Hopefully this'll help until we can get you patched up." Zoey popped the pills and munched on them. The pain slowly started to ease slightly. "Ready to move?" Zoey nodded in response. "Let's move out guys!" The survivors moved towards the exit of the McDonalds.

"Come on, I've got a good feeling about this guys," Alan said as he turned, seeing a Boomer standing in front of him in a torn and tattered McDonald's uniform. "WHOA SHIT!!"

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK," Doc screamed.

Alan swung his machete down, imbedding the blade through the Boomer's skull. The fat zombie groaned as its eyes rolled up into the back of its head and fell on its back. Jamie, Zoey, and Maria all came up and looked at the fallen Boomer, staring at it oddly. Doc and Alan gave a frightful look, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"I-is it dead," Alan asked. Doc slowly went up and poked it with the barrel of his gun. The Boomer made not movements.

"I think it's dead," Doc proclaimed. "Holy shit, an intact, dead Boomer!"

"Guys, we can gush about this later," Jamie exclaimed. "I'm tired, Zoey's injured, Maria is frightened, and now you two have shit your pants." Doc moved past the Boomer, avoiding any contact with it as he headed for the exit. Alan began to follow, staring at the Boomer with wide eyes. "You gonna grab your machete?"

"Fuck no," Alan replied. "What if it explodes?!"

"You fucking baby," Jamie muttered. The leader signaled for Zoey and Maria to move ahead. The three moved past the Boomer and Jamie pulled the machete from the Boomer's skull and handed it to Alan. "Now let's hurry it up."

The survivors looked towards the bookstore, seeing no zombies between them and salvation, so they decided to walk there. Maria held Zoey's hand as they walked. The latter looked down at the little girl who looked back at her. The survivors entered the bookstore and were surprised. The front door wasn't a safe house; the entire bookstore was the safe house.

"HO-OH-LY SHIT!!" Doc shouted. "Now this is a fucking safe house!"

"You can say that with a side of bacon," Alan added in awe.

"We don't know how safe this place is though, so keep your guard up," Jamie replied.

"Boss, come on, Doc just screamed at the top of his lungs. If there were any zombies in here I'm almost positive they'd be running at us by now."

"Well go check everywhere to make sure," Jamie snapped. Alan rolled his eyes then jerked his head to the side, signaling Doc to follow him. "You okay," Jamie asked, walking towards Zoey.

"I'm fine," the female replied. "Kinda pissed that the shirt I got you is already FUBAR, but it's okay." Jamie looked down at his Devil May Cry shirt, noticing it was covered in slime from the Smoker's tongue.

"Oh, shit, sorry about that." Zoey smirked then shrugged, and then gasped at the slight burning sensation. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm just fine," Zoey remarked. Suddenly, Doc and Alan's screams both were heard throughout the library. The blonde quickly ran out and pointed to where he came from.

"SHOWER!! WORKING SHOWER!!" Without another word, Jamie, Maria, and Zoey sprinted to where Doc came from. In a nearby room, Alan was already in the shower, bare naked scrubbing his body. Everyone screamed or groaned in shock, covering their eyes. "How the hell did you get naked so fast," Doc asked, covering his eyes with his hand.

"I've always been a fast changer," Alan replied. "Although now I just had to strip, which is a lot faster."

"Some of us may have wanted to use that," Doc shouted.

"Well you still have to patch up Zoey there! Snap to it son! Oh, also there's a working washing machine for those who have fucked up clothes."

"You know, I can feel you're staring at me," Jamie replied, not daring to remove his arm from his eyes. "Don't blame me, blame the Smoker I beat to shit with a crowbar. Wait a second…FUCK!! I forgot my machine gun!"

"Don't worry, the military used this place for awhile before the infection got bad," Alan said. "There should be plenty of guns lying around."

"Am I the only one who finds it weird that we're still standing here," Zoey asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Doc replied as he walked off.

The survivors walked to one of the nearby computer rooms, the average computers lying about to be replaced by a few pieces of abandoned military equipment. Doc walked over to the duffel bag that Alan had been carrying the entire time and pulled out one of the medkits. He quickly unzipped the side, pulling out a disinfecting ointment and medical tape. Doc froze for a minute and stared a Zoey with a perplexed look.

"What's wrong," Jamie asked.

"This is extremely awkward, but I need you to take off your shirt Zoey…" Said survivor's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she blushed madly.

"Whoa Doc, I didn't know you were such a perv," Jamie teased.

"It's necessary, unless Zoey has a medical degree."

"Actually I know a little bit," Zoey replied. "I've just got to apply that ointment, rub it into the wounds then place a thin layer of cotton or anything soft so the tape doesn't stick to the wound, then put the tape on right?" Doc and Jamie both had the same astonished look on their faces. "I had a friend…"

"Was this friend a doctor," Doc asked.

"No…but he was a war veteran who knew how to patch up a lot of war injuries. He said he once saved a guy from bleeding out whenever both of his legs were blown off with only his jacket and a few sticks."

"Was this guy MacGyver," Jamie asked. Zoey smiled and shook her head. "Well I'd trust a veteran more than you Doc. I think she can handle it."

"I can have Maria help me too," Zoey added.

"Alright, I wasn't oppose to the idea," Doc exclaimed. "I was just making sure. I'd think the last thing any of us would like to die from is an infection." Zoey and Jamie gave Doc a blank look, both with a questioning eyebrow raised. "A common infection, not Green Flu…I'm just gonna leave now." Doc turned and left the room. Jamie followed, closing the door behind him.

"You don't mind helping do you Maria?" The little girl shook her head. "Alright, all I need is for you to wrap the tape around me when I'm done okay?" Again, Maria nodded.

Outside, Doc began looking at the dusty books on the shelves and the floor. "Looking for a good read?"

"Might as well," Doc replied. "I get the feeling we'd be staying here for awhile. This building has working power, beds, running water, supplies, why would we leave?"

"Maybe to get to safety," Jamie answered. "I doubt the military would risk the lives of soldiers to save a few citizens. They'd sooner bomb the city probably."

"Nah, official protocol says they have to quarantine the virus. The problem is they're overlooking little things and not testing any human who makes it past quarantine, stupid fucking military bastards."

"At any rate, we should at least check out that outpost to the west of here," Jamie added. "If anything else we might find a working radio."

In the other room, Zoey put her shirt back on over her body then looked at her still bleeding hand. Maria instantly handed the tape to the older survivor, who smiled and took it from her.

"Thanks Maria." The black haired girl nodded. Zoey gently squeezed some ointment onto her wounds, wincing at the stinging pain as she rubbed it in. Maria looked down, an obvious look of guilt on her face. Zoey looked up, noticing the look on Maria's face. "What's wrong?"

The little girl moved her eyes up, glancing at Zoey's wounds then looking back to the ground. Zoey looked at her hand then back up at Maria, understanding what the little girl thought. Zoey stood up and placed an assuring hand on Maria's shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself okay? This wasn't your fault." Maria gasped quickly, trying to hold back her sobs. "Hey, I don't blame you for this okay? I'm still alive so don't worry." Maria's lower lip quiver as she tried to control herself. Zoey hugged the little girl who hugged back. After a moment, Maria's sobs ceased and Zoey decided to release her. "You better?" Maria nodded in response.

Zoey got up and continued rubbing all of the ointment into her wounds before sitting down. She grabbed a piece of cotton from the medkit and placed it on her hand. "Can you help me again?" Maria nodded before quickly moving next to Zoey. The little girl grabbed the tape and started wrapping it around Zoey's hand. Once going around about three times, Maria tore the tape.

"Thank you Maria." The little girl smiled weakly and looked down. "Hey Maria?" Said girl looked up to Zoey who had a questioning look. "Was that you who screamed my name or was I going crazy when fighting that Hunter?" Maria looked down, blushing a bit. "That was wasn't it?" Maria nodded once, still looking at the ground. "So I guess you're still not totally comfortable talking?" Maria shook her head. "That's fine. I've still got secrets I don't think I can share with these guys either…" Maria smirked a little, moving her eyes up to Zoey. "Let's head back out there before the others get too worried." Zoey grabbed Maria's hand then walked back out into the library.

The girls looked over, seeing Doc pounding on a door, "Alan, you've been in there long enough and some of us would like to take a shower too ya know!"

"Hey," Zoey said to Jamie, who sat on a table, watching the doctor slam his fist into the door. "How long has he been up to that?"

"Oh about two minutes. I think Alan is just sitting in there to piss him off."

"It's working," Zoey pointed out.

"Yeah…" Jamie turned to his partner. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm better now," Zoey answered. "Not that I'm a fan of being pounced and clawed by zombies."

"Tell me about it," Jamie replied, turning back to Doc still beating on the door. "I'm glad you're fine thought." Zoey smiled, glancing at Jamie then back to Doc.

"ALAN OPEN UP ALREADY!" Just then, the door slowly opened and Alan walked out, his hair matted down from the water. Luckily, he was completely clothed.

"Eh, what's up Doc?" Jamie and Zoey snickered, while Doc only glared angrily for a moment. "Oh come on, you know I was staying in there to piss you off."

"I…really hate you," was the only thing Doc could say.

"I take it the ladies are next right," Alan asked.

"If they don't mind stealing the shower from Doc," Jamie replied. Without a word, Zoey and Maria quickly walked towards the bathroom.

"Oh that's not fair," Doc whined.

"The only reason they're in there together is because they're both girls Doc," Alan snapped. "Stop being such a fucking pervert!"

"Why does everyone think I'm a god damn perv!?"

After an hour and a half, everyone had taken a well deserved shower, and Jamie, Zoey, and Alan started a load of laundry. Alan wore his shirt regarding his 'rocket,' while Zoey wore a simple black tank-top, and Jamie wore a tight grey T-shirt. The survivors sat around, reading different books to themselves. Maria lied next to Zoey who was sitting on a beanbag.

"Dang boss," Alan said. "That shirt looks rather gay." Jamie shot a glare at Alan who only chuckled. "Hey it's fine if that's who you are, I just didn't know you swung that way."

"I don't," Jamie replied. "Just ask your girlfriend."

"Dude, he just torched your ass," Doc laughed out. Jamie sat on a beanbag and opened a book he had in his hands.

"The shirt is my fault anyway," Zoey admitted. "I got some clothes for him and I didn't know what size he was."

"Awe, ain't that sweet boss," Alan asked teasingly. "You got a girlfriend now." Jamie and Zoey both looked up from their books, glaring once again at Alan. "I want mine back now."

"I think your girlfriend is probably a zombie you've shot," Doc replied.

"Nah, that was my ex. Bitch deserved it anyway." The two laughed to themselves while Jamie and Zoey simply rolled their eyes. "Why didn't you get me any shirts Zoey?"

"You were with Doc. I thought you two were big boys who could shop all by yourselves."

"But you didn't think that about Jamie," Doc asked, a sly smirk coming across his face.

"Oh my god, both of you shut up," Jamie ordered.

"Ooh, the boss is getting sensitive now," Alan teased. "Alright boss, we'll stop for now, just because you asked so nicely." Jamie rolled his eyes then focused on his book. The survivors read in silence for a moment before Zoey finally stood up.

"I'm gonna walk around a bit."

"Just don't leave the building," Alan cautioned. "There are zombies out there, and I need at least five minutes to get my running legs on after I sit down." The brunette rolled her eyes with a smile as she walked around the library.

* * *

Not much of a cliffhanger, but oh well, the next chapter is gonna be about rest and relaxation mostly so don't get too excited about it. Also I'd like to thank everyone who reads and reviewed this story for all the positive feedback! Thank all of you so much for being some kick ass fans.


	8. Library

Alan- RPG, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

--

Zoey walked around the library, looking at the empty shelves, abandoned supplies, dusty furniture, left behind military equipment, and the overall message of hopelessness. Zoey sighed as she leaned her caboose back onto a desk, scanning the overall condition of the library.

"No fucking way," Alan screamed. "Zoey, hurry up! We're making a fort out of the left over couches!" Zoey rolled her eyes, laughing quietly to herself as she walked back to the lobby. She walked up, seeing Alan, Doc and Maria moving and organizing cushions and couches to build a childish fort.

"Why are they doing this again," Zoey asked Jamie, who stood by watching with his arms crossed.

"I told them they could. I'm just surprised Doc wanted to build a fort too…"

"No, no, no, move the couch this way, towards me!" said blonde ordered to Alan. Jamie sighed heavily while Zoey only giggled.

"Dude, you're totally ruining it," Alan screamed.

"No I'm not! If we do things your way the roof will fall in on us!" Jamie shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No it won't," Alan replied. "Your way is going to collapse the roof ya idiot!" Maria threw down the cushion she was holding, groaning in frustration before stomping off towards Jamie and Zoey.

"It was her idea," Jamie whispered to Zoey. Maria stood next to Zoey then crossed her arms with a look of annoyance on her face while she looked at the feuding 'adults.'

"Dude, stop being such a dick about things," Alan shouted. "We're doing things my way!"

"Alright, I didn't think this was going to cause so much trouble," Jamie said loudly. "No more fort, put all of this stuff back where it was."

"Awe," Alan and Doc both complained.

"Doc, you're over thirty years old, and Alan…well you're still a child inside. Put everything back because you've upset Maria."

"This sucks…" Alan whined.

"What're we supposed to do now…?"

"Well, there's still a lot of the library left to explore," Zoey pointed out.

"Fine," Alan and Doc sighed out with disappointment.

The survivors went to the children's section of the library, finding a ton of different medical supplies, most of which were used, incomplete, or useless. Through the magic of salvaging though, Doc was able to have enough supplies for one more medkit. The next room was a small coffee shop type area that was apparently used for a communications and strategy room. There were various maps of the city and the state with dozens of marks all over it, making most of the maps useless for navigation. There were a few clips of ammo scattered around the room that the survivors put in their duffel bag of supplies. The next room was the room where the library faculty would meet, and was instead used for hold supplies, mainly food and ammunition. The food was all expired or nasty to begin with, but the ammo was usable.

"Well that was somewhat entertaining," Alan stated. "What now?"

"We can go to sleep," Doc said. "But it's only like seven thirty…"

"And I'm starving," Zoey added.

"At nighttime, I don't think we should be running out in the streets when the sun goes down, especially when the parking lot out in front is so open."

"Well Doc and I can go get food," Alan offered.

"NO," Doc screamed. "NEVER AGAIN!!"

"Dude you know I don't do stupid shit at night. I'll most likely be too tired to want to massacre zombies."

"He's right," Jamie stated. "Last time you went out it was dusk. It's about to be nighttime, so he'll just want to get back here ASAP to get some sleep."

"What if I say no," Doc asked.

"Then you'll be a dick," Zoey replied. "I'm fucking hungry as hell, and I've been fighting zombies since day one. I'm tired, and I'm really fucking hungry, so you can go out and find me something to eat before I shoot you in the foot!" Doc blinked a few times in disbelief before turning to Alan.

"So when are we leaving?" Alan laughed and shook his head.

"I guess right now is as good a time as any," the bulky survivor said. "Let's go." Alan walked up to the duffel bag and pulled out the pump shotgun and a handful of shells. Doc followed after him, both heading towards the safe house door.

"Wait," Zoey called out. Doc and Alan turned around as Zoey walked up to them. "Alan, give me the RPG."

"What, why?!"

"For Doc's safety," Zoey answered.

"Thank you," Doc sighed out quickly. Alan pouted then gave the RPG to Zoey.

"You better not use it while I'm gone," Alan snapped quickly. "And what if we find a Tank?! I'm just supposed to shoot it with a pump shotgun?"

"Yeah," Zoey replied. "Now get going before I use this RPG on both of you." Alan and Doc both laughed and turned to Zoey. The female survivor raised the RPG up, aiming it at Doc and Alan.

"Oh shit," they both screamed, quickly opening then running out of the door. Zoey smiled then closed the door behind them.

"You think they'll be okay," Zoey asked Jamie with a worried look.

"Now that Alan doesn't have the RPG, yeah, they'll be about as safe as a cockroach after a nuclear holocaust."

"I hope so…I would feel bad if they died because I made false threats. Oh wait." Zoey turned and opened the door, poking her head outside. "No McDonalds!"

"DAMN IT," Alan and Doc both shouted. Zoey then closed the door and locked it. Jamie raised a questioning eyebrow with a smirk on his face.

"What," Zoey questioned.

"Are you seriously trying to get them killed?"

"No," Zoey replied. "I just don't like McDonalds…"

"I didn't know survivors could be choosers."

"They can when you're a tired girl…" Zoey sat down in a chair, sighing as she got comfortable. Maria sat next to her senior, laying her head on Zoey's shoulder. Jamie sat across from them, leaning back in the beanbag. Maria closed her eyes, falling asleep in a few short minutes.

"Looks like Maria's your new best friend," Jamie stated. Zoey looked at the sleeping black haired girl then looked back to Jamie.

"I guess so…"

"So you're holding up fine right?"

"I'm just fine," Zoey replied quickly, shooting a small glare at Jamie. "I've been clawed before. How's your back doing after you got jacked up by that…what'd we call it?"

"Charger," Jamie answered. "And I'm just fine. Kinda sore, but all and all I'm fine."

"I can take a look at your injuries if ya want. I'm no nurse, but I have a little medical know-how."

"Out of curiosity what else can you do?"

"I can cut hair," Zoey fired back with a smile, "Just saying. I can also play games, run fast, and shoot zombies."

"That's all you need nowadays." The two laughed a bit, causing Maria to stir in her sleep. "Maybe we should move this conversation." Zoey nodded then slowly got up, letting Maria lie down on the beanbag. Jamie and Zoey walked into the former computer lab, sitting in two dusty old computer chairs.

"So…what do you want to talk about?"

"I'm not sure," Jamie replied. "You and I haven't had a real chance to talk about ourselves have we?"

"Yeah," Zoey agreed quietly, looking at the ground. Jamie leaned back, a look of concern on his face. "I was part of another team…we were together for a long time…it…it didn't end well…"

"That's a start," Jamie said in a reassuring tone. "You don't have to go into details if you don't want." Zoey nodded, sniffing once and wiping away the tears that built up in her eyes.

"Thanks Jamie…" After a moment, Zoey pulled herself together then looked back at Jamie. "Thank you…"

"Hey, it's no big deal." Zoey smiled up at Jamie then looked back at the ground. "Do you want me to start talking?"

"Could you," Zoey asked, letting out a small laugh.

"Um…shit, I can't think of any good stories…" Zoey looked back up at Jamie who had a look of concentration on his face.

"Do you have any family? Aside from your uncle I mean."

"Yeah, my mom lives in Colorado," Jamie answered quickly. Zoey tilted her head to the side with a confused look.

"Why do you two live so far away? College or something?"

"Not really…it's just this big deal that doesn't matter anymore." Zoey observed Jamie's face, unsure whether it was of anger or regret.

"I'm sorry," Zoey apologized. "I'm just trying to find out more about you. I mean I know how you guys found Maria, I know what Alan and Doc did before the outbreak, but you're a blank for me."

"Well…I worked at a bunch of different jobs to make ends meet. That help any?"

"Somewhat," Zoey replied. "Alright, let's talk about how you met Alan and Doc."

"Oh, well Alan I met first. He called me surprisingly enough." Zoey cocked her head to the side, smiling with amusement. "I had this cell phone and he called it, we met up and stuck together since."

"Alright, what about Doc?"

"Now there's a climactic story. Alan and I were running through the streets because a Tank was chasing us, and we turn the corner and Alan smacks right into Doc. As it turned out, Doc was running from another Tank."

"Holy shit," Zoey gasped.

"Yeah, luckily though the Tank that was chasing us threw a car, and hit the other Tank. So, instead of attacking us, the two Tanks started brawling each other and we hauled ass out of there."

"So does Doc have a real name?"

"He told us just to call him Doc," Jamie said with a shrug. "If he doesn't think it's important then I say just let him be."

"Two Tanks…that's a hell of a way to meet new people."

"Yeah, apparently Tanks either have boundary or anger issues, either way, it helped us in the end. You should've seen Doc's Tank though, that thing just ran up to our Tank then WHAM!" Jamie threw a straight jab forward, causing a loud cracking noise in his shoulder. "AH! Fuck!" Jamie leaned forward, holding his shoulder in pain.

"Shit, are you okay?" Zoey ran up to Jamie, placing a hand on his back. "Dude, I seriously need to look at your injuries."

"I'm fine," Jamie replied. "Just a stupid move on my part."

"Stop trying to impress me, now take your shirt off!" Jamie sighed then pulled his shirt off over his head. "Holy…" A long scar went from Jamie's right shoulder down near the left side of his waist. "What is…how did this happen?"

"That scar? Saving Alan's dumbass from a Witch he startled. It was our first encounter with one of those bitches."

"What the hell happened?"

"Alan ran up, thinking he was going to show off by having the 'zombie kill of the week' and pulled the Witch's hair, and shot it in the eye with a pistol. Naturally, that pissed her off and she backhanded Alan, throwing that fucker into the air and onto the hood of a car. So I run up and shouldered with my right shoulder and the bitch who manages to claw me like that."

"Jesus…"

"Needless to say, Alan was grateful for that. It's fine though, that wound has already closed up and everything." Zoey shook her head and looked at Jamie's shoulders. The arm he used to punch the air seemed to be dislocated. "How bad is it nurse Zoey?"

"It'll be worse if you don't shut up," Zoey snapped back with a smile. "It just looks like it's dislocated. How the hell you did that I don't know. Hold still." Zoey placed on hand on Jamie's neck and the other on the front of his shoulder and placed one of her knees on his back.

"Hey what the hell are you—YEOW!" Zoey pushed with her knee and pulled with her hand, causing another loud cracking sound. The survivor moved her limbs away and looked at Jamie's shoulder which seemed to be back to normal. "Holy balls that hurt!"

"Your shoulder is back in place, and you're welcome." Jamie looked at his shoulder and rolled it around twice. "Careful idiot, don't get it dislocated again!"

"Shit, you know your stuff." Zoey shrugged with a teasing smirk as she began to walk to her seat again. The survivor looked at the side of Jamie's waist, seeing two smaller claw marks.

"What about those," Zoey asked, pointing to the claw marks. Jamie looked down, seeing the healed wounds she was referring to, and looked back up at Zoey.

"Why in the world are you checking me out so much?" Zoey blushed slightly and glared at Jamie angrily. "That was from a Hunter who tried to pounce Maria. He managed to claw me right there before Alan shot him straight through the chest. It wasn't that bad, but Doc freaked out like an overprotective mother." Jamie put his shirt back on and sighed. "So yeah, you kinda know why everyone made me leader of this group…"

"Because you throw yourself into danger more often?"

"No, Alan does that more than me. I throw myself into danger to save the others more often. Doc says if I save one more person it'll probably kill me."

"Have you ever thrown yourself in the way for Doc?"

"No, but I have latched myself to the arm of a Tank for Doc before." Zoey's eyes widened with shock. "That wasn't fun. Bastard threw me threw a window. The Tank, not Doc."

"I guessed as much," Zoey replied. "And obviously you put Maria's safety before yourself."

"I put everyone's safety before mine. I don't think many people would care if I died." Jamie looked to Zoey who was staring at the ground. "Well I mean aside from you guys. The outside world wouldn't really miss me much if I was gone."

"Don't say that. You have an uncle, you have a mother. They'd miss you and you know it."

"Yeah…I guess so. I'm not suicidal like Alan can be sometimes, I'm just selfless."

"Stupidly heroic is more like it," Zoey muttered, smirking to herself.

"Either way, they haven't found a way to kill me yet."

"Isn't that a line from a song?"

"Who knows," Jamie replied. "I don't listen to much music. The music I do listen too you'd never expect me to like."

"So what type of bands do you listen to?"

"Well I-," Suddenly, a loud pounding echoing through the safe house rang through the library. Zoey and Jamie quickly got up and ran for the front door, looking through the slot, seeing Doc and Alan shooting oncoming zombies. "Just like them to bring company!"

Zoey and Jamie exploded out of the door, Zoey with a pistol and Jamie with a magnum. The two fired at two nearby zombies, killing the infected persons as more charged. "Hey guys," Alan shouted over the sound of his shotgun fire. "Sorry but we found some other hungry bastards!"

"Well that's just great, but next time you bring this many guests phone first!" Jamie squeezed the trigger on his magnum again, blowing a hole through two zombies with on bullet. "Doc, grab the food and get in there!"

"Done," Doc shouted, grabbing bags of food and running into the safe house. Zoey was the next to head in while Alan and Jamie slowly moved back.

"Shotgun," Jamie called out.

Alan took one hand of his shotgun, punching a zombie in the face before throwing the firearm to Jamie, and pulling out his machete. Jamie caught the shotgun, pumped it once then blew off the chest of a charging zombie. Alan ran back into the safe house, holding the door, ready to shut it on a moment's notice. Jamie shot another zombie, then ran back into the safe house, standing over Alan who was slightly ducked down. Jamie fired at the zombies while Alan hacked hands and arms off while shutting the door. The two slammed a bar into holding the door shut as the pounding of dozens of infected was heard. Jamie and Alan looked at the door which remained perfectly still, and the walls just in case. After a moment, they both sighed, Jamie handing Alan the shotgun back.

"That was not my fault I swear," Alan said, grabbing the shotgun. "Honest, we were just walking and we heard them screaming and hauled ass."

"Doc," Jamie called out without turning his head.

"He's telling the truth," Doc sighed out, panting heavily to catch his breath.

"Well I guess if we want to leave the front door is obviously out of the option," Alan pointed out, aiming the barrel of the shotgun at the door. "We've better start looking for more exits."

"One thing at a time," Jamie snapped. "What'd you bring us?"

"You say McDonalds, I swear I'll throw you back out there," Zoey threatened.

"There was actually this coffee shop across the street with working shit, so we made some coffee and donuts." Jamie, Zoey, and Maria all snapped their heads to Alan.

"You were gone for like two minutes," Jamie stated with a shocked tone.

"Wait, we made coffee and reheated donuts. That better?"

"Well it doesn't make it better, but your story makes more sense." Doc unrolled the paper bags, pulling out four cups of coffee, handing one to each survivor. "Doc, you didn't get one?"

"Shit, I only have coffee before a serious surgery, even then it's mostly milk, and no caffeine. If I have coffee I'd be crazier than a Jockey humping Zoey's face."

"Oh that's just wrong," Alan said in disgust.

"That's pretty bad…it'd be pretty funny though, but still bad."

"Also in this bag we've got cream, sugar, and a lot of other junk for what you guys want. Those other three bags are all different types of donuts. Most of them smashed because Alan wanted to get as many as possible."

"Hey, I didn't smash the jelly filled ones, that's all that matters."

"Actually what matters is that we have food, and you two aren't dead," Jamie replied. Maria made a nasty gagging noise, causing everyone's heads to snap to her. The young girl took a sip of coffee a moment earlier, obviously finding the drink nasty. Jamie, Alan, and Zoey started laughing at the face the little girl was making.

"Don't worry Maria, that shit is really nasty," Doc told her. Maria nodded in agreement, placing the cup on the ground.

The survivors drank and ate all their donuts then began looking for a new way out. Jamie and Alan explored around the computer lab, looking for any type of hidden passage they could use. Jamie looked under a computer desk before sighing and turning the table over, knocking the computer over and breaking its monitor.

"Hey, that's not necessary," Alan snapped with sarcasm.

"Ah, fuck off," Jamie replied, waving his hand uncaringly with the same amount of sarcasm. "Hey, couldn't we go out of one of those windows?" Alan turned around, following Jamie's gaze to a tall window up high, out of their reach.

"Yeah, cause a broken neck would totally help our chances of survival," Alan remarked, crossing his arms.

"Have you found a back door," Jamie asked, turning his head to his partner. "Go get the others and we'll get their opinion." Alan left, and a moment later came back with the other three survivors. "Alright, so I found a window…all the way up there. Unless anyone else found a safe way out, we can try the front door and stay in the library and starve. Objections?" Alan looked at Zoey, Doc, and Maria who remained silent, staring at Jamie or the window.

"Seriously? No one is going to say anything about how we could die from the fall?" Everyone looked to Alan, who then looked to his side uncomfortably. "I mean I'm just thinking about our safety is all…"

"What's wrong Alan," Zoey asked.

"Nothing…"

"Oh no fucking way," Doc murmured, "You're afraid of heights?!"

"No way man," Alan shouted, his face becoming hot from embarrassment.

"You're not afraid of Witches, Tanks, zombies, but heights scare you?"

"How do you know," Jamie questioned.

"I had a minor in psychology, and the only reason he's reluctant to go up there is because he's afraid! He's trying to make us find another route, he looked away from us whenever we all looked at him, even a moron could've told he's scared!"

"Alan, stop being a baby," Jamie ordered. "Doc, find a ladder or something we can stack up on top of one another to climb."

"A ladder, right," Doc mumbled to himself before leaving the room.

"You can't be serious," Alan protested again. "How're we supposed to get down?"

"Climb," Jamie replied, walking past Alan to go out of the room.

"I hate this team sometimes…"

A few moments later and Doc came back empty handed, "Yo Jamie, there's nothing here to climb…"

"Well can we stack shit on top of other stuff?"

"Nope," Doc replied. "Sorry, looks like Alan wins."

"Thank god," Alan sighed out.

Jamie opened his mouth to speak, but felt a soft tapping on his leg. The survivor looked down, seeing Maria pointing to another room. The survivors followed her and saw a manhole that led to a foul smelling sewer system.

"Oh that's nasty," Jamie exclaimed, covering his nose. "So that's our only choice now? Shit!"

"Shit and piss," Doc corrected. "I am not going into the sewer system!" Suddenly, the survivors heard loud and repeated banging on the safe house door, hearing the scream of what must've been hundreds of zombies. The windows broke open and the walls bent as hordes smashed their bodies into forward. "On second thought," Doc said before jumping down, pinching his nose shut. "AWE FUCK!! This is so sick!!"

"Alan, can you give Maria a piggyback," Jamie asked.

"Sure thing," Alan said before kneeling down. Maria climbed up, putting her arms around Alan's neck. "Hold on tight and cover your nose." Alan jumped into the man hole just as a few zombies broke through and stormed the library.

"Go," Jamie ordered to Zoey, shooting zombies down with his magnum. Zoey shot a few zombies then jumped down into the manhole. Jamie shot the last of the small group that broke through and holstered his gun and grabbing the lid to the hole. "I've always wanted to do this!" The front wall of the library broke down as a sea of zombies ran towards Jamie. The survivor lifted the lid above his head then jumped straight down the manhole. The lid caught on the floor, covering the hole perfectly. Jamie screamed then landed in the brown, nasty smelling water. "SHIT, the stink is inside of my head!"

"Ain't it though," Doc asked, covering his nose with his arm. "I'm changing once we get out of here! Alan, tell me you kept the duffel bag nice and clean?"

"Yeah," Alan replied, awkwardly trying to keep the strap on his shoulder while keeping Maria up in the air. "Someone want to take this?" Doc walked up and put the duffel bag over his shoulder, allowing Alan to balance out. "Thanks man."

"I've had enough sewers to last me a lifetime," Zoey murmured to herself.

"Let's try to find a way out of here," Jamie ordered, taking point with his flashlight on.


	9. Gas Station

Alan- RPG, pump shotgun, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- pistol, magnum, combat knife

Zoey- pistol, combat shotgun

--

"Why the fuck does the sewers stink so damn much," Doc screamed as he walked through thick, shitty water.

"Your bitching isn't helping anything," Alan replied. The bulky survivor gagged then spat a huge wad of spit with distaste. "Although I do vote we get out of here soon."

"I can understand why we'd want to travel at night, but why always underground," Zoey asked herself.

"Look at the bright side guys; there aren't zombies down here."

"You're way too happy down here," Alan accused.

"I just enjoy it when you and Doc are uncomfortable in any way shape and form. But don't worry though, I'm starting to think this isn't worth my entertainment."

"What was the first hint, the nasty shit smell, or stepping on turds," Alan asked before gagging again.

"There, there's a ladder," Jamie shouted, running a little faster.

"Thank god," Zoey replied, following Jamie's pace. The two shined their lights upward, seeing the sky above them. "Who's going up first?"

"Doc's got the assault rifle and Alan's got the shotgun," Jamie stated. "You and I only have pistols…"

"Yeah, well I have Maria," Alan snapped back.

"And I have the duffel bag," Doc replied.

"Fine," Jamie rolled his eyes, handing his pistol to Zoey. "We'll head up first, but don't come up until we say it's clear got it?"

"No problem," Alan replied with a smirk. Zoey went up the ladder first followed by Jamie.

"Ya know, I just realized," Doc began. "While they're up there, we're down here in pure stink…" Alan gave a blank look forward as he came to this realization. Maria sighed then smacked the back of Alan's head in frustration.

"Ow, sorry!"

"Ya know I don't know if it's the sewer or your ass in my face, but I smell pure shit," Jamie told Zoey. The latter stopped and looked down at Jamie who smiled jokingly.

"How much do you think a fall from this height into a pool of piss and shit would hurt you?" Jamie looked down then back up at Zoey.

"I'll be quiet now."

"Good choice." Zoey continued up with Jamie following her.

The female survivor popped her head up, looking around an intersection full of crashed, flipped, and wrecked cars. Slowly, she climbed up and pulled out her pistols, scanning her surroundings in case of anything she missed. Jamie came up next and held his magnum out. Jamie looked down the manhole then waved up to Alan and Doc. Alan moved up first followed by Doc. The three survivors got up on the surface and pulled out their weapons. Maria let go of Alan, landing safely on her feet.

"Okay, I vote for changing otherwise we'll be attracting zombies with our scent," Alan exclaimed.

"Second," Doc quickly shouted.

"We need to find somewhere safe first," Jamie replied. "Get the map and find out where we are." Doc sighed then pulled out the map and unfolded it.

"Well, according to this map we're right on the very western edge of town. And the military outpost…" Doc lifted his head up and looked down a dirt trail that was covered by thick, dense forest. "Is that way…"

"There's no fucking way we can make it through that safely," Jamie shouted. "Fuck!"

"Yo guys," Alan called out from a distance. The survivors turned to see Alan standing next to a modified, heavily armored black hummer. "You think this could get us through that forest?"

"I call shotgun," Doc exclaimed as he ran forward.

"Does it even have gas," Jamie questioned. "Why would someone leave that out in the open right in front of salvation?"

"Well," Zoey began, looking past the vehicle. "It looks like someone tried to pump some gas, but then got mauled by zombies."

"How do you know that," Jamie asked. Zoey pointed to a gas station behind the hummer, seeing brass shells on the ground, blood smeared everywhere. "That's sound reasoning…"

"You were right boss," Alan called out. "This thing hardly has any gas in the tank. Should we fill er up first?"

"Duh moron, but first we need to make sure the area is safe…or at least partially safe. Maria, get in and stay in the hummer and hide. Doc and Zoey go check inside for any zombies or supplies. Alan, put the hummer in neutral and let's push this thing back to the pump." The survivors split up, going where they needed to.

Doc slowly opened the door, slowly guiding his flashlight around the pitch black room. Slowly, he entered the room with Zoey behind him. "I think it's clear…" Zoey felt the wall and eventually turned on a light switch. The lights showed the station to be empty of living people or infected. "Alright, let's start salvaging."

"Should we look for food and stuff first?"

"Won't find much besides bagged chips and soda," Doc stated.

"That's more than we have," Zoey replied.

"True…you get whatever food you can, and I'll search the back rooms."

Outside, Alan and Jamie groaned as they pushed the heavy vehicle backwards while Maria sat in the driver's seat with her head turned around outside the window and she turned the steering wheel. Maria turned around and hit the door a few times, telling Jamie and Alan to stop. The survivors stopped and sighed in relief.

"Now that's a hell of a work out," Alan stated. "What next boss?"

"Walk around the station and make sure there aren't any straggling zombies around." Alan nodded before slinging his shotgun over his shoulders as he began his lap. Jamie walked up to Maria in the hummer. "Roll up the windows and stay down okay?" Maria nodded once as she rolled the window up. The girl then moved to the back seat and hid on the floorboard. Jamie walked around the hummer, staring at the gas pump. "I really hope there's some gas left in this fucking place…"

Doc opened the door to the supply closet and flicked on the lights, finding no zombies inside. "Oh hell YES!!" Zoey quickly entered the room with an armful of soda and chips, alarmed by Doc's screaming.

"Doc what's—OH HELL YES!" The room was full of illegal guns and weapons. "Looks like the owner had some 'over the counter' products."

"Oh Alan's gonna be happy about this. Go get Jamie and Alan so they can help us carry some stuff in." Zoey nodded then ran out of the station.

Back outside, Alan approached Jamie with his shotgun still over his shoulders. "Nothin boss, we're clear out here."

"Hey guys," Zoey's voice called out. Jamie and Alan turned to their female compatriot with an armful of sodas.

"Alright, ya brought some drinks!"

"And there are guns in the station too," Zoey replied. Alan's eyes widened greatly before he turned to Jamie.

"Go ahead, just don't test any of them before we have to." Alan threw his fist into the air before running into the station. Jamie tapped his knuckle onto the hummer door which was opened by Maria. The little girl unzipped the duffel bag that sat in the passenger's seat. Zoey dropped the sodas into the bag.

"Shit, there's too much stuff in the bag," Zoey pointed out.

"We could take some of this ammo out probably," Jamie suggested. The two took out a few clips of ammo, and three dozen shotgun shells which made more room for the sodas.

"What're you guys doing," Alan called out. Jamie and Zoey turned around, seeing Alan carrying a new duffel bag which had guns sticking out in every direction, and carrying even more weapons in his arms. "Don't mix the food and the ammo together! That's just stupid!" Alan dropped the bag onto the pavement and unzipped it. "No start putting the ammo in here."

"Where's Doc," Jamie asked, pulling out the spare ammunition from their old duffel bag.

"He's getting food and shit," Alan replied. Zoey dropped a few extra shells into the new bag, noticing Alan with a grenade launcher.

"Oh come on," Zoey exclaimed. "An RPG and a grenade launcher?"

"What," Alan asked in outrage. "Why can't I have both?"

"Idiot, those explode, and gas is flammable. One wrong shot and we could go up in a blazing inferno!"

"I'll be safe," Alan quietly said.

"At least put the RPG away." Alan sighed then moved to the back of the hummer. Maria crawled back there and opened it, letting Alan place his RPG safely and securely in the back. Doc came up with an armful of chips and soda.

"That's everything that hasn't expired," Doc stated as he walked towards the supply duffel bag. "So what's the plan? With our luck we'd be swarmed whenever we start pumping the gas."

"Get our weapons sorted, defend this position and pray to god we survive," Jamie replied. "That's what we always do isn't it?" Doc shrugged in agreement. "Alright, first of all we can't all have shotguns, because we need range."

"I have the grenade launcher," Alan reminded everyone as he walked back up to the group.

"I can put my shotgun in the back," Zoey offered. "Or Alan can take my shotgun since it shoots faster, whichever works."

"It'll take your shotgun," Alan replied before turning back to the hummer. "I'll just put my pump gun up."

"Alright, and I can give you my extra pistol if you want it Zoey. No reason for me to have a pistol and a magnum." Zoey nodded to Jamie who then pulled his pistol out and handed it to her. "So what guns did we salvage from the station?"

"Take a gander," Doc said. "All types of different weapons."

"I'll take this sniper rifle," Zoey announced, pulling the scoped weapon out of the weapon's bag.

"I can take the combat rifle," Jamie said, pulling the desert rifle out. "So Doc and Alan are relied on for close range, but we still could use your help in long range."

"We'll be fine," Alan assured Jamie as he approached once again. "All we've got to do is cover ourselves. Two people cover the pump, and the other two cover the hummer. No good pumping gas if the vehicle gets totaled."

"That sounds like a smart idea," Zoey agreed. "I think I should cover the hummer since there's more open space around it."

"Right, and there buildings can somewhat funnel the zombies whenever unlike the forest. If you're sure you can handle it. Alan, you're covering the hummer with Zoey, Doc you're with me. Do we have any grenades?"

"I still have like a dozen grenades in the duffel bag," Alan stated.

"I found two pipe bombs and a Molotov," Doc added.

"I'll take the Molotov," Jamie replied. "I'd like to set some shit on fire. Doc and Zoey take a pipe bomb, and Alan…I know I'm going to regret saying this, but go ape-shit with the grenades."

"Quick concern," Doc suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned to the blonde doctor who was staring at the forest. "There are a lot of trees on the sides of the path we need to get to…and Alan has a devastating grenade launcher that could probably cause trees to fall over…right in our path…"

"Right, Alan, you're with me, Doc you're with Zoey." The two survivors quickly traded spaces. Doc and Zoey stood on two different sides of the hummer, scanning the streets and the forest carefully. Jamie and Alan stood close together next to the gas pump with their weapons ready. "Get ready guys! Maria is gonna honk when the gas tank is full. Alan, start pumping the gas!"

Alan pressed on the pump, letting gas flow into the tank. The survivors tensed up, looking around carefully waiting for a horde to appear. The outcry of an approaching mob of zombies was heard. The first wave came onto Jamie and Alan's side as zombies came flooding from the alleys and windows. Jamie began firing into the crowd, blasting zombies down quickly.

"Someone explain how they knew we were pumping gas again," Alan shouted as he began blasting the shotgun rapidly.

Zoey turned her head slightly over her shoulder, worried for her teammates who seemed to be holding a horde off on their own. Suddenly, Doc's blasting snapped Zoey's attention forward as a horde of zombie came flooding out of the forest. Zoey aimed her sniper and began picking off zombies one by one in the woods.

"Why the fuck are there so many of them," Doc shouted as he continued to fire at nearby zombies.

Jamie's gun clicked empty after he blasted the head off of a nearby zombie, "Shit!" The survivor dropped the empty clip and slammed in a fresh one and started firing again.

Alan punched a zombie back and loaded a four more shells into his shotgun before a Hunter came flying over the heads of the horde. Alan's eyes widened with horror for a moment before he blasted the Hunter's head off with his shotgun. The now headless body fell on the ground as blood poured out of its neck. Alan fired again, then pulled the trigger a second time, but nothing came out.

"What the fuck?!" Alan looked up then used his gun as a club to knock back nearby zombies. "This piece of shit is jammed!" Alan hurled his gun forward, cracking the skull of a charging zombie. "Jamie, I need a gun!" Said survivor turned his head for a moment, seeing Alan pull out his machete.

Jamie grabbed his magnum then hurled it to his partner. Alan caught the magnum, spun it around and began firing at zombies while hacking down nearby ones. Jamie fired his combat rifle and had to reload again.

"Fucking junk!" Jamie let the empty clip drop out of the gun and grabbed a new clip again, slamming it into the rifle.

Zoey quickened her rate of fire, trying to keep the horde coming at bay, but more and more just kept coming no matter how many she killed. Doc finally dropped his shotgun and pulled out a pipe bomb. Before throwing it, Doc had to sock a nearby zombie in the face, then he let the ticking bomb fly. The pipe bomb flew into the forest, and the zombies chased after it, gathering around it before the inevitable moment when it exploded. Most of those zombies were dead, allowing Zoey and Doc to reload. Another horde came flooding out of the forest a moment later.

"Fuck," Doc and Zoey shouted, aiming their weapons up once again.

Alan hacked and blasted into the seemingly endless horde of zombies while Jamie shoved and shot as many as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, Jamie noticed another horde coming from the street to his right. Jamie quickly pulled out his Molotov and lit the cloth on fire before hurling it down the road. The bottle exploded, quickly spreading flames around the street as zombies mindlessly ran into the inferno. Jamie then turned his attention back forward where the zombies continued flooding in. Jamie then noticed a propane tank in the doorway of the building in front of them and aimed carefully. Squeezing the trigger once released three bullets which pierced the tank, causing it to explode and take out the front wall on the first floor of the building.

"Holy shit," Alan shouted. "You were talking to me about subtlety!"

"Bite me," Jamie screamed back, taking his sweet ass time reloading as the horde was now blown to chunks. Another scream was heard in front of Alan and Jamie. "This horde is my fault."

"Damn straight it's your fault," Alan agreed as he reloaded his magnum. "Zoey's shotgun jammed by the way, totally fucking useless." A new horde of zombies flooded through the flaming remains of the building and through the alleys towards Alan and Jamie.

The zombies coming out of the forest seemed even greater in number than the horde before. Zoey had her sniper hanging at her side from the strap while she used her double pistols to shoot oncoming zombies. Doc reloaded before kicking a zombie square in the chest. As the zombie fell to the ground, four more zombies charged Doc, punching, shoving and kicking him into the hummer. Doc dropped his shotgun as he lifted his arms to shield himself. His back was against the vehicle as the zombies began beating him angrily. Zoey turned in shock towards Doc, and before she could aim, a Jockey jumped on her back, using its massive hands to cover her face as he steered her away from the hummer. Doc pulled out his pistol before throwing his left elbow across to his right side, knocking the four zombies back. The blonde raised his pistol to aim carefully, but another zombie tackled him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

Alan ran out of magnum ammo after a moment, throwing the gun at the nearest zombie, cracking its skull between its eyes. The survivor then used his machete to hack away at the oncoming zombies. Jamie continued shooting the zombies down and ran out of ammo again. Mentally cursing, Jamie threw his gun back, pulling out his combat knife and began slicing the zombies up. Suddenly, Jamie felt a burning sensation at his feet. Quickly he looked down, seeing a pool of green acid forming up at his feet. Jamie quickly jumped out of the pool, looking around for the Spitter. Suddenly, a slimy tongue wrapped around Jamie and pulled him forward.

"ALAN!" The bulky survivor turned, seeing Jamie being pulled towards a horde then looked up to a window of the building in front of them, seeing a Smoker pulling his partner.

Alan pulled out his grenade launcher then aimed carefully before firing. The grenade flew out of the firearm and towards the Smoker, barely missing the infected and went into the building. The grenade flew into the building, hitting the main support column for the building. An explosion was heard as was a loud crunching noise. Suddenly, the roof of the building came collapsing in on itself, one floor after another before the entire building crashed to the ground, sending out dust flying outward, killing the zombies running through, around, and inside it, including the Smoker. Jamie quickly untied the tongue from his body and looked towards Alan with a look of shock. The bulky survivor was in total shock, looking at the rubble that was once a building. Jamie quickly stood up and looked around, seeing no zombies around and easing up a bit.

Zoey screamed as the Jockey cackled madly, forcing Zoey to run around god knows where. Finally, the survivor threw her arms up, feeling each pistol pressing into something. Zoey then fired her pistols in rapid succession, unloading twelve bullets into the Jockey before it hit the ground dead. Zoey fell to her knees and looked over at the corpse, before looking back at Doc who was being swarmed by zombies.

"Shit, hold on!" Zoey pulled out her pipe bomb then hurled it several yards down the street. The zombies all ran after the beeping bomb, circling around it while flailing their arms around madly. The bomb exploded, killing all the zombies around it. Zoey ran up to Doc, who was on the ground with bruises all over his body. "Shit, come on, get up!" Zoey helped Doc to his feet. The blonde stumbled for a moment before catching himself.

"I'm good," Doc stated. "Just a little battered…"

"Sorry I couldn't help sooner," Zoey apologized.

"Hey it's fine," Doc assured, staring over at the Jockey corpse. "I'm surprised you were able to get that thing off by yourself."

"Yo," Alan called out as he and Jamie ran back to the other two. "Did you guys see what I just did?"

"Guys, Doc is hurt pretty bad," Zoey stated.

"That can wait," Alan replied. "I destroyed a fucking building!"

"He can stand," Jamie continued, ignoring Alan. "Plus the gas tank has to be close to full right?"

Abruptly, the roaring of a Tank was heard. The survivors turned, seeing the massive zombie crawling over the destroyed building.

"Fuck," all the survivors said in unison.

The Tank grabbed a piece of rubble then lifted it above its head. Alan shot a grenade out of his launcher, falling short of hitting the Tank. The explosion caused the Tank to drop the rubble. Zoey moved to the side, aiming and firing carefully at the Tank, making sure every bullet hit successfully. The Tank angrily charged Zoey while Alan reloaded his grenade launcher. Doc fired his shotgun into the Tanks arm, struggling to stand after the thrashing he took from a horde. The Tank threw its arm up, hitting a few pieces of small rubble towards Doc. The rubble didn't hit Doc directly, but caused him to stumble to the side. One random brick managed to knock the grenade launcher out of Alan's hands once he got the firearm reloaded.

"SHIT!" Alan shouted as he quickly ran towards his grenade launcher.

Zoey started firing more rapidly at the Tank with her sniper rifle, eventually causing the gun to click empty. Zoey threw the gun to the ground and pulled out her two pistols, firing quickly as the Tank closed the gap between the two of them. The Tank lifted its arms up, ready to send them crashing down on Zoey before Jamie ran past the survivor and leaped up onto the Tank. The monster screamed in anger as it thrashed around in a blind rage. Jamie stabbed his knife repeatedly into the Tank's face, holding onto the beast's body for dear life. Zoey quickly aimed her pistols, but couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Jamie. Thinking fast, Zoey got her sniper rifle and reloaded it and took careful aim through the scope, landing a solid shot in the Tank's back. The beast roared angrily before getting a firm grip onto Jamie, hurling the survivor against the brick wall of the gas station. Jamie hit with a painful smack and hit the ground unconscious. The Tank ran towards the comatose survivor, intending to finish him off. Before the Tank went too far, its entire back was blown away by an explosion. Alan snapped the grenade launcher open, taking the shell out and replacing it with a new one.

Zoey ran up to Jamie, shaking him forcefully, "Jamie, wake up! Get up come on!" The survivor remained unmoving.

The hummer's horn honk telling the survivors they were ready to move and also involuntarily alerting the horde. Alan ran up to Zoey, lifting one of Jamie's arms around his shoulder. Zoey did the same with Jamie's other arm and the two carried their fellow survivor towards the vehicle. Doc opened the hummer door and threw his gun in the back, starting the engine. Alan and Zoey made it to the back door which was opened by Maria. Zoey got in first and with the help of Maria brought Jamie into the vehicle. Alan hopped in and closed the door just as the zombies started showing up.

"GO, GO, GO!" Alan shouted to Doc. The engine roared before the hummer flew off down the dirt trail of the forest as the horde futilely chased after them.


	10. Military Outpost

Alan- grenade launcher, machete

Doc- pistol, automatic shotgun

Jamie- incapacitated

Zoey- dual pistols, sniper rifle

--

The hummer sped through the woods, flying over hills and sliding around corners with Doc behind the wheel, making it an extremely bumpy ride.

"Doc," Alan called out before flying up when the hummer hit a pothole. "Jesus Christ, slow down a bit!"

"Hey, I got beat to shit by a horde of zombies and now even more zombies are chasing us and we can hardly see past our own noses in this damn forest, so excuse me for not wanting to sightsee!"

"Well get back here so you can help Jamie!"

"Oh yeah, let's just stop the fucking vehicle to trade places, sounds like a great idea. Hey, why we're out I've got to take a FUCKING PISS!"

"Don't fucking get smart with me goddamn it, Jamie needs medical attention!"

"He should be fine," Doc screamed, turning his head back to better shout at Alan. "It's not like his organs are hanging out and it won't do any fucking good to heal him if we get swarmed by zombies!"

"Damn it Doc, stop the fucking vehicle!" Before Doc could shout back, a gunshot rang out, causing the two feuding survivors to jump. They turned, seeing the barrel of one of Zoey's pistols smoking.

"Both of you shut up," Zoey ordered. "Arguing isn't going to help anything! Doc's right; we need to make sure we're safe before stopping. Alan, you can help me at least take care of Jamie until then okay?" Alan nodded once before turning to Doc.

"Sorry man…"

"It's fine," Doc assured as he looked around the road carefully. Alan moved to the back of the hummer where Jamie lied on his back, motionless. Maria sat next to him, trying not to cry before Zoey and Alan moved back there.

"Hey Maria, can you move up so we can try to help Jamie," Zoey asked. Maria stared at the comatose survivor before slowly heading for the front of the vehicle. "Alan, is there any special way you know of to wake him up?"

"Me farting always worked," Alan replied, trying to crack a joke. "I don't think he needs that at this point though. He's not dead though right?"

"No, he's breathing and I don't think he has any broken bones surprisingly…"

"He always drank his milk as kid," Alan said, forming a small smirk. Zoey looked up with a confused look, ready to say something.

"Guys, problem!" The survivors looked out of the front windshield; they found the military base, problem was that there was a large metal double door between them and it. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! I knew this would happen!" Doc started honking the horn in desperation.

"Fuck this shit," Alan shouted as he grabbed his grenade launcher and opened the door.

"What the fuck is he doing," Doc asked, turning to Zoey in a confused rage.

Alan slammed the door behind him as Doc started honking the horn even more. The bulky survivor faced the back of the hummer, seeing a few shadowy figures coming out of the woods.

"Come on fuckers! Its gonna be rainin zombie pieces whenever I'm done with you bastards! Bring it on you fucking freaks!" Alan's shouting seemed to provoke the zombies as they all screamed back at him. The survivor squeezed the trigger on the grenade launcher into the center of the horde. The explosion killed the few zombies that charged, but more started coming through the smoke. "Come on! I'll fucking take all you on!" Suddenly, a loud screeching, creaking noise was heard, prompting the survivor to whip his head around. The giant metal doors were opening for the survivors, "GO, GO, GO!"

Doc swore under his breath before leaning out of the window with his pistol in hand, "The doors aren't open enough!"

Doc began firing into the oncoming horde of zombies, picking off a few of them. Zoey opened the back window and took aim with her sniper rifle. She began firing rapidly into the sea of zombies, taking out a number of them with single shots. Alan fired his grenade launcher once again, blowing several dozen zombies to pieces. Maria shook Doc's arm frantically, causing the blonde to look forward, seeing that the doors were fully open.

"Go man, go," Alan called out as he slammed a fresh grenade into the launcher.

Doc floored the gas, flying past the doors as Alan turned around and ran through as the doors began to close. The zombies were hot on Alan's heels, almost coming in if a full squad of armed marines didn't stand in the opening, firing their fully automatic weapons into the sea of zombies, cutting down most of them. The doors closed, and the zombies that survived were picked off by newly positioned snipers in the watch towers above.

Doc stopped the car, seeing a group of military soldiers, with their guns raised, circling their hummer. "Come out with your hands up," one of the soldiers shouted. "Get out right now, slowly!"

"What the fuck," Alan called out. "Why the fuck are you guys aiming those guns at us you fuckers!?" One soldiers tackled Alan from behind, and two more soldiers came up to help their comrade. "Get the fuck off me! We've got injured people in that hummer you assholes!"

The soldiers continually shouted at the survivors who shouted back, neither being able to hear the other. "Ten hut," a stern voice called out. The soldiers snapped to attention, lowering their weapons. A large black man walked up, obviously an officer of some sort. "Survivors, please step out of the vehicle slowly and unarmed."

"What'd do we do," Zoey asked.

"It's a dozen of them against two of us," Doc replied. "What do you think we're doing?" Zoey sighed and placed her sniper in the hummer. Maria held Zoey's hand tightly as they got out of the hummer at the same time as Doc. "He listen, we're immune to the Green Flu! There's no reason to shoot us!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to be sure," the officer advised. "You will be quarantined for a few days to determine if you're carriers or not."

"BULLSHIT," Alan called out from under three soldiers.

"Alan, now is not the time," Doc shouted. "We're not carriers sir."

"We can't be sure," the officer replied. "You'll be quarantined for only a few days. It's to ensure the safety of the other refugees in the base."

"We're not carriers," Zoey told the officer with a hard glare. "This little girl isn't immune and she's been with us this entire time and she hasn't turned!" The officer looked at the trembling little girl then up at Zoey and Doc.

"How do you know she's not immune," the officer finally asked.

"I'm a doctor that worked in Mercy Hospital," Doc replied. "I know more about this infection than anyone in the military. The zombies know when people are immune to their infection because they savagely beat anyone who's immune, because they can sense they're a threat. Carriers are people who are immune, but carry the infection in their bodies in a dormant state so it doesn't change them. Those who aren't immune are instantly bitten by single zombies to transfer the infection, or they're eaten alive by hordes of zombies. Every zombie we've come across has tried to bite her, or go for one of us and then for no reason go for Maria."

The officer looked upon Doc for a moment before turning and nodding to one of his soldiers. The soldier nodded back then signaled for the rest of the soldiers to disperse. The three soldiers got off of Alan who stood up, desperately wanting to take on all three of them. The officer walked up to the survivors.

"I'm deeply sorry about that," he apologized. "This long with the infection and I can't be too sure. I'm surprised though to find survivors who aren't carriers, and I'm even more surprised to find someone alive who isn't immune."

"We tend to run a tight ship," Doc replied.

"There's someone in the hummer whose been injured," Zoey immediately stated. "He's in the back and he needs medical attention."

"We'll see to it immediately." The officer signaled two medical soldiers who grabbed a nearby stretcher and ran up to the hummer. "Come on, I'll give you the tour." The officer walked towards the main building. Zoey, Alan, Doc, and Maria all looked at one another then followed. "I'm Sergeant Williams and I'm the officer in charge of this outpost."

"You said there were other survivors," Doc asked to sergeant.

"Yes, back before the infection got so serious. They came here to shelter them while the military and CEDA took care of the infection. Well a few days turned into a week, and that week turned into two weeks…people are losing hope…"

"Why don't you radio for help or something," Alan asked as the sergeant opened the front door.

"We're in the middle of a forest with hundreds of trees that can mess with our radio signaling. We had this outpost because we thought that the forest would hide us from the infected. As it turns out: we were left for dead out here."

"What about evacuating everyone yourself," Doc questioned. "Surely you've got a few jeeps, helicopters, something."

"We do, but they're all out of fuel because we worked so hard to find survivors in the city. We only had a few vehicles left to send out to get more gas. That was nearly four days ago. Nobody will say it but we can all feel it: we're just going to wait here and die one by one…"

"Oh yeah, this is totally better than running around the streets and shooting zombies," Alan exclaimed sarcastically. "There has to be something you can do!"

"I don't know which of my men are immune, and I don't know which survivors are immune either. I'm not risking anyone's lives by sending them out like I did with a squad of my own men."

"They could still be alive," Doc replied. "Side tracked, had one bad event after another that caused them to become sidetracked or something."

"Four heavily armored carriers with at least a dozen heavily equipped soldiers with a diverse arsenal?" Williams turned his head, peering over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway. "I don't hold out much hope if they weren't back by now…"

"What a downer," Alan whispered to Zoey. The survivor nodded in agreement, but understood how after this long someone like Williams could be so depressing. It wasn't about having hope for him: it was about facing facts.

"The civilian quarters are down this hall," Williams said, stopping suddenly. "There are barracks and a cafeteria. That's about it."

"Well that sucks," Alan replied.

"Do you know of a better place to hide from these bastards? Maybe a nice hotel with a view of the beach? Hawaii maybe? No, then don't criticize." Doc snickered while Alan remained silent. "I make due with what I have. What I have isn't a whole lot though. The medical hall is down here." Williams motioned towards the hall across from the civilian quarters. "Your friend is down here. Just ask a nurse where he is and she should be able to escort you to him. Until then you all can go into the cafeteria and eat, talk to other survivors, just don't bother me or any other soldiers." Williams walked down the only hall he didn't specify, eventually moving behind a door.

"What a dick," Alan exclaimed once Williams was gone.

"Alan, he's been here for three weeks with a lot of people," Doc replied. "He's watched the hopes of all of his staff and the people he saved die down to nothing. You can't blame him for being dick-ish…"

"You sure, cause I think I just did," Alan shot back. "Anywho, we should eat first and then check up on Jamie."

"Alright," Doc agreed, turning to Zoey and Maria. "Come on girls." The four moved into the cafeteria, surprised to see the entire area full of survivors sitting around at tables, eating or talking to one another. "Holy shit…"

"This is a lot of people," Alan said, his eyes wide with shock. Zoey marched into the cafeteria, finding an empty table for their group to sit at. The female survivors sat down, Maria with a sad look, and Zoey with an angered look. Alan and Doc sat across from Zoey and Maria, both with concerned looks. "What's wrong girl," Alan asked Zoey.

"Nothing," Zoey replied angrily, glaring her eyes to the side. Doc and Alan looked at each other then back to Zoey. The survivor was hiding her guilt behind a wall of anger, but this bred frustration and caused tears to well up in her eyes. "It's my fault Jamie's hurt isn't it?" Zoey snapped her eyes towards Doc and Alan, who looked back with alarmed faces. "That's what you're all thinking isn't it? Well I didn't ask him to save my life!" Zoey looked away again as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Whoa, calm down Zoey," Alan replied. "No one blames you for Jamie's condition. Trust me: this isn't the first time he's got fucked up by the zombies to save someone. He got thrown through a window by a Tank for trying to save Doc for god's sakes."

"Luckily a Witch broke his fall," Doc mumbled with a smirk.

"Broke the bitch's arm too," Alan added, matching his friend's smile. Zoey looked over, her eyes softening a bit. "Trust me girl, nobody blames you for Jamie's current condition. Once Jamie is going to do something he does it, be it throwing Maria off the ledge of a building onto a truck bed of mattresses of latching himself to a Tank's face, he does it." Zoey's eyes widened with shock.

"Wait, he did what to Maria?"

"We were on the roof of a building right," Alan replied, smiling widely. "A horde of zombies were flooding out of the only door to the roof which made it easy to kill them. Or so we thought, because another horde was jumping from rooftop to rooftop like freaking ninjas to get to us."

"So after a minute or two of fighting endless zombies, Jamie looks down," Doc continued. "He thinks we could've jumped or something, and we all thought he was batshit crazy at the time. However, he says he heard a Hunter growling or something, so he grabs Maria and THROWS her off the building like a split second before the Hunter pounced him. He only got clawed on his side though before Alan shot the damn thing."

"We thought he killed Maria, but whenever he got up, he jumps off the building too and we see that he landed on one of those delivery trucks, which conveniently was full of mattresses. Doc and I look at each other before jumping off to avoid the zombies. The loudest I've ever heard Doc scream in my life."

"I was jumping off a building," Doc shot back. Zoey's eyes were full of amazement before she looked back down. "Trust us though Zoey: Jamie does stupid shit. We don't blame you for it. If anything it's his fault. He should know better than jumping onto Tanks, but he just doesn't listen."

Zoey smiled a bit and lowered her head in embarrassment, "Sorry guys…"

"You're fine," Alan assured. "You've only been with us for a few days right?" Zoey nodded before looking back up at her new team with a smile. "Alright, let's get some food!"

The survivors walked up to where the food was being served, and were disappointed to find that it was soup, borderline gruel. Doc stopped Alan from making some type of smart ass remark before the survivors got their bowls of soup and walked back to their table.

"This shouldn't be too bad," Doc assured everyone. "I mean I've SEEN nastier stuff…"

"I'm pretty sure since this infection hit, EVERYONE has seen nastier stuff Doc," Alan shot back. "I thought this was a military outpost, not a fucking prison."

"They've got to make due with what they've got," Zoey reminded. "We should be happy they even have food to serve. Look at all these people they have to take care of." Alan rolled his eyes then sniffed his soup.

"Jesus, it smells like Boomer shit!" Doc and Zoey rolled their eyes before taking a spoonful of soup. Their eyes widened with disgust and horror before they slowly brought the spoons out of their mouths. "What's it taste like," Alan asked mockingly with a sly sneer of his face.

"Boomer shit," they both replied.

"Wanna go check on Jamie," Alan asked everyone. The other three nodded and stood up with Alan.

The survivors exited the cafeteria then walked down the civilian hallway and made it to the infirmary. Doc approached a nurse holding a clipboard.

"Excuse me, but no civilians are to be allowed back here," the nurse told them.

"Our friend is back there," Doc replied. "He's the guy who got thrown into a wall by a Tank, ya know, the really big zombies with arms the size of your whole body. We need to see him."

The nurse made a face then turned around to escort the survivors to Jamie. She opened a door to one of the rooms and the survivors saw their leader sitting up in a bed with his entire upper body wrapped up.

Jamie smiled upon the sight of his team, "Hey guys."

"Well you look as good as new," Alan said, walking towards Jamie. "No worse than usual. It seems like somebody always has to patch you up at some point."

"Hey what can I say; chicks dig scars."

"Yeah, especially the infected chicks running around," Doc added. "You're definitely an infected magnet. Or you have a love of pain."

"That's defiantly one for the books boss. I mean you went Jockey on a fucking Tank." Jamie chuckled a bit then looked to Maria and Zoey.

"I'm glad you're okay," Zoey finally said. "Well not okay, but not dead I mean. I'm glad you're not dead is what I meant."

"I got ya," Jamie replied with a small laugh. "Just don't make me have to do that again. I'm not sure how much longer I can afford to save you guys. Alan why don't you make some sacrifices?"

"Because I can't jump on a Tank's face. I don't have the nerve to do that. A Charger maybe, but that's like half a Tank."

"People do stupid shit when their adrenaline is pumping," Jamie fired back. "Try it some time." The survivors got out of bed, alarming his team and the nurse.

"You shouldn't be moving. Get back into bed," the nurse ordered.

"Trust me I've been through worse. I just can't move my arms, no big deal." Jamie stood up on his own and grabbed his shirt, putting it back on over his bandages. "What do they serve in a place like this?"

"Boomer shit," Zoey, Doc, and Alan replied immediately. A few moments later and the survivors gathered back into the cafeteria, and Jamie quickly found out what his team meant.

"This is pure nastification," Jamie said after gagging. "Don't we have shit in the hummer?"

"Oh right we do," Alan replied, standing up quickly. "Let's go chow down!"

Jamie stood up after everyone else and turned around to a young woman staring at him. The rest of the team turned around to see Jamie frozen at the sight of the young woman, around his age. She had shoulder length blonde hair, green eyes, a pink glow in her cheeks, had a very large chest, and overall looked stunning.

"Jamie," she finally breathed out. The survivors looked at each other with questioning looks before turning back to their leader.

"Michelle, you're alive?" The girl laughed then threw her arms around Jamie and squeezed tightly. "OW, OW PAIN!" Michelle quickly let go of Jamie with a look of concern on her face.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Ya—no not really. My shoulders and back are still killing me." Without warning, Michelle once again hugged Jamie, this time around his body, burying her head into the survivor's chest. Jamie paused for a moment, blushing a bit once he remembered his team was watching.

"I can't believe you're alive…" the new girl whispered.

"I'm confused," Doc whispered to Alan.

"Wait, I think I remember her," Alan said. Jamie cleared his throat and placed his hands on Michelle's back.

"Uh, Michelle these are my friends," Jamie said, turning to the side and pointing to his team. "That's Doc, Maria, Alan, and Zoey." Each survivor waved in correspondence with their name.

"We've met once before I think," Alan told Michelle. "It was at a party that Ed was throwing." Michelle tilted her head to the side in confusion. "I was the really drunk dude to slammed his self through the table?"

"Oh right," Michelle finally said. "I remember now."

"The rest of these guys we picked up while going through the city," Jamie added. "How'd you get here?"

"Well…whenever the infection first hit and the military was evacuating everyone to this base, my mom and I tried to get to one, and she…she was…" Michelle covered her mouth to quiet her sobs, feeling frustration at how she was crying at the moment.

"Hey, it's okay," Jamie replied, putting his arms around Michelle, holding her close. "It's okay Michelle…" Said girl wrapped her arms around Jamie again, sobbing into his chest. Doc lightly hit Alan's shoulder and leaned forward.

"Maybe we should give these two a moment…"

Alan nodded in agreement then turned to the others. Doc and Alan left, escorting Maria with them while Zoey watched for a moment then followed the others. The survivors moved outside to the front of the base to find their hummer gone.

"What the fuck, where's out hummer," Alan demanded to the nearest soldier.

"Sergeant Williams had it taken to our garage to get it out of the way," the soldier replied sternly. "We also had to take all firearms for obvious reasons."

"What about our food and soda," Doc questioned.

"Confiscated, we can't take the chance of the infection being transferable in people's food."

"Are you fucking serious," Alan shouted as his anger rose.

"The infection can't infect chips inside of super sealed bags, any idiot would know that!"

"To be honest, Sergeant Williams took it to be fair to the rest of the refugees. It wouldn't be fair if you all got to eat actual food while everyone else ate the soup they're forced to eat every day."

"Well fucking shit," Alan angrily muttered to himself.

"Alright, I'm sick and tired of this place and everyone in it," Doc exclaimed. "Radio in for help right now!"

"None of our radios work sir," the soldier replied, becoming more nervous. "We sent our only radio with the squads Sergeant Williams dispatched yesterday. Their mission was either to get fuel or radio for help. Evidently neither mission was accomplished…"

"Why the—nah you know what fuck this shit," Alan shouted. "Where's the armory? I'm going back outside."

"Alan shut up, you're not going outside."

"At least outside with those cannibal freaks I could eat what I want and I didn't have to worry about someone stealing my fucking guns!"

"Safety reasons sir," the soldier replied. "Talk to Sergeant Williams if there's a problem."

"Oh you bet your green ass I will," Alan exclaimed as he walked back towards the building.

Doc sighed and followed after him while Zoey and Maria stayed outside. Maria looked up at Zoey who was obviously distraught. The little girl poked Zoey's leg, looking up at her with a perplexed look. Zoey sighed then looked away. Maria again poked Zoey's legs and gave a more serious look at the older girl.

"You think something's wrong?" Maria nodded, giving Zoey the same look. The brunette sighed then jerked her head to the side of the base. The two girls walked away from the soldiers and from the base before Zoey leaned back against a tree. Maria sat at the base of another tree, placing her arms around her knees and staring up at Zoey. "Something's wrong, but I don't know what I'm feeling right now…" Maria tilted her head to the side, with a wondering, concerned look. "Don't worry about it Maria…" The little girl looked back at the base, then turned her head back to Zoey. The two sat around in silence, Maria giving Zoey one constant look, expecting an answer. Neither moved for nearly two minutes before Zoey sighed and gave a tired look to Maria.

"You don't give up do you?" The little girl shook her head, still staring Zoey in the eyes. "I think I'm still feeling guilty about what happened with Jamie…" Maria looked down then back up at Zoey. "I know the others say it's not my fault, and even Jamie told me not to worry about it, but I can't help but feel guilty…"

Maria's eyes narrowed for a moment. Zoey moved her eyes back to the little girl, slightly taken back from the glare she was getting. Maria stuck her chest out then made a rounding move from her collar bone to right above her stomach. Zoey cocked a questioning eyebrow up, before catching onto what the girl was saying.

"Wait, you think this is about Michelle," Zoey asked with bewilderment in her tone. "Why would I care about her?" Maria lowered her head with a serious gaze. "What?" Maria sighed then shook her head before picking up a rock then throwing it against the wall. Zoey watched the rock hit the wall then looked back at Maria, "This could be so much easier if you talked." Maria crossed her arms with the same serious gaze. "Why would it bother me that Jamie found a friend of his? A big breasted, beautiful, blonde friend of his. I don't care, as long as he's happy." Maria sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"Hey, I'm only jealous of Michelle because of her boobs and the fact she has a shoulder to cry on, that's it. So don't go implying anything." Maria's eyes lowered before she slowly got to her feet. "I'm sorry for getting like that sweetie." Maria shrugged then smiled up at Zoey. "Thanks a lot for this…uh, 'talk.' We should do this more often." Maria giggled at the joke before taking Zoey's hand and walking back to the base.


	11. Volunteer Mission

Alan- N/A

Doc- N/A

Jamie- N/A

Zoey- N/A

--

A few hours in the military outpost and Alan was already screaming at every soldier to get to Sergeant Williams, but to no avail. Doc attempted to calm his bulky friend down, somehow finding him easier to deal with whenever their lives were in danger. Jamie hadn't been seen since the survivors left the cafeteria, but no one really went looking for him. Zoey and Maria were escorted to their new barracks which was surprisingly luxurious. There was a couch that folded out into a bed, a reclining chair and two actual beds. The soldier that escorted the two female survivors said that Sergeant Williams felt that they at least deserved a little extra comfort. There was also a small bathroom with a sink, a shower, and a toilet. Zoey allowed Maria to take a shower first while the former got more settled into their room. For the first time in nearly three weeks, Zoey let her hair casually fall down from its usual ponytail.

Zoey looked in the mirror, turning her head from side to side, trying to straighten her straggly, dirty hair out. The survivor turned to one of the beds, noticing several different types of casual clothing lied out for her to choose. They were all the same, only differing in sizes. Zoey grabbed one wardrobe, unfolding the clothes which were a black tank top, and a pair of black shorts. Zoey changed into these clothes then walked towards one of the beds, noticing a book on one of the nightstands. Not really caring what it was, Zoey grabbed the book and opened it while leaning on the back of the bed. A knocking was heard on the door before it slowly opened. Jamie poked his head in, spotting Zoey and smiling at her.

"Hey," Jamie greeted.

"Hi," Zoey replied.

"I was told this is our room," Jamie said as he walked into the large room. "Pretty nice compared to everything else at this base. Where's Maria?"

"Taking a shower," Zoey answered, nodding her head to the bathroom. Jamie nodded then turned to the clothes folded up and lied out for them. Without warning, the survivor took off his shirt then grabbed a white tank top and put it over his bandaged body. "Oh yeah, free strips shows make the zombie apocalypse SO much better." Jamie looked up to Zoey, smiling brightly.

"I'm sorry, should've I given you a warning or something? Or maybe you want to order me to take my shirt off like in the library."

"That was to help you because you were being stupid and dislocated your shoulder, not because I wanted to see you without a shirt on. Trust me I've seen plenty of guys without clothes." Jamie's eyes widened as he mouthed 'wow.' Zoey realized what she said then blushed with embarrassment. "Not completely naked, I meant like without their shirts on!"

"I didn't say anything," Jamie replied, holding back his laughter. Zoey glared at him for a moment before turning back to her book. "What're you reading?"

"The bible apparently," Zoey answered, closing the book before looking at the cover with a lost look. "I just grabbed it and start reading it." Jamie nodded before lying down in the bed next to Zoey's. "So," she began as she placed the book on the nightstand. "Who's Michelle?" Jamie rolled his eyes and shook his head, laughing a bit. "No, come on. Tell me."

"She's an old friend of mine. We knew each other since we were five, and we've been like brother and sister since."

"Really," Zoey questioned, narrowing her eyes a bit. "With a face and chest like that one would think you were more than friends…" Jamie's face became hot for as he looked away for a moment.

"We thought about it, but we couldn't see ourselves being a couple. We thought it would be too weird, so we decided to stay friends." Zoey nodded, quietly humming to herself in understanding. "Alright, your turn, any close friends you wanna tell me about?"

"Why would you want to know," Zoey asked with a teasing grin. "Jealous or something?"

"I figured we were trading information," Jamie replied. "If anything I think you'd be jealous." Zoey stuck her tongue out at Jamie before staring down at the bed. Silence filled the room until Jamie finally shifted slightly, "You didn't have any close friends…?"

"Before the apocalypse? Not really. My roommate and I didn't talk that much, mainly because she'd be in other guys' dorms having sex. She thought I was a bit weird, can you believe that? A shut in like me weird."

"I know, I can't believe it," Jamie replied with a smirk. "But you said before the apocalypse…what about—oh…" Zoey's eyes slowly hollowed out as the happiness faded quickly. "Shit, I'm so sorry Zoey." The female survivor chuckled slightly before looking up at the ceiling.

"You almost died defending me a few hours ago and you're apologizing to me?" Zoey moved her head over to Jamie and smiled slightly. "Their names were Bill, Francis, and Louis. I tried to climb down the fire escape of my dorm and I didn't get to the four-way before zombies started chasing me and I stumbled upon Bill armed with an automatic assault rifle…" Zoey sighed shakily, trying to get a hold of herself while remembering her former team. "We Francis met a little while later riding a motorcycle down the street before being pulled off his bike by a Smoker. We saved him and he decided to tag along. He kinda knew Bill from a bar the both of them went to apparently. And we found Louis entering the same safe house we were trying to enter from the other end. We all almost shot each other whenever the door closed." Zoey sighed again, this time more steadily. Jamie smiled then placed a supportive hand on her knee. Zoey looked down at his hand then up at Jamie.

"Thanks for sharing. I know that can't be easy for you." Zoey shrugged and shook her head a bit.

"It's okay. Nothing I can do about it now right?" Jamie didn't respond as he took his hand off of Zoey's knee. "Your team reminds me a lot about those three…"

"Really," Jamie asked with a strange look.

"Yeah. Francis was a big buff biker who was as fearless as they come and did things just to prove to us how amazing he was. He was a combination of you and Alan…mostly Alan I think."

"Has he done anything that topped one of Alan's stories?"

"He did punch a Tank in the face with his bare hands." Jamie's eyes widened, nearly popping out of his head. "He had to reload his shotgun right as a Tank was going for Louis. Apparently there wasn't enough time so he runs up and socks it in the face with his fist."

"Wow," Jamie replied, laughing in amazement.

"Luckily Bill and I were able to get the Tank's attention before it broke Francis in half. He wouldn't stop bragging about it for the next few days. I suppose he did deserve kudos for it."

"So who do the rest of us remind you of?"

"Doc definitely reminds me of Louis. They both for whatever reason like to be finely dressed for the apocalypse. Louis was a Junior Systems Analyst, a job which made him some money, but he still hated his job. Louis also had a bit of a short temper at times, mainly with zombies, or Francis. But he had an unshakable optimistic feeling about everything. No matter how bad things got he always had a good feeling about our next rescue."

"So I guess I remind you of Bill?"

"Well…sort of. You were both the leaders of your teams, and really great leaders who are fearless. There's just one major difference between you and Bill. Well actually a few, but one real major one."

"Which was…?"

"Bill was the veteran I told you about back in the library. So aside from surviving through Vietnam, having a bad knee, smoking a cigarette constantly, and a lot more experience, you two were a lot alike." Zoey leaned back, bringing her legs up to her body while staring at the ceiling. "I don't think there was anyone of them I liked more than the other. I just…I dunno…"

"Had different relationships with each," Jamie asked.

"Yeah," Zoey replied with a confused look on her face. She turned to Jamie, "I don't know how you can explain this type of stuff. But like Francis wasn't as bad of a guy as he led on to be. Sure he went to jail, beat up a few people, stole, maybe killed some people, but I knew he was a big softy under it all. Like one time I accidently startled a Witch and it came running after me and clawed my gun in half with one swing and barely hit me. But, I was thrown into a wooden wall and blacked out for a moment. Louis told me Francis blew the Witch's head off then shot her like four more times. I woke up like a second later and Francis was tearing up. He tried to play it off saying that some of the Witch's blood got into his eyes. That was the first time Francis showed a caring side to any of us."

"That sounds like Alan alright," Jamie agreed with a nod.

"And Louis was open and easy to get along with and Bill was too sometimes. Most of the time though he just argued with Francis. But they were each different in their own way, but we all got along so well. It was weird, but…it felt right…"

Jamie smiled before the door to the bathroom opened. Both survivors turned to see Maria wearing a baggy T-shirt and black shorts and had her hair up in a ponytail. Maria saw Jamie then smiled at him and waved. Jamie smiled and waved back before turning to Zoey.

"I guess you're next up for the shower?"

"I guess so," Zoey replied as she stood up then headed for the bathroom.

She stopped for a moment then quickly glanced over her should before heading into the bathroom. Jamie lied back on the bed, staring at the ceiling while Maria looked from the bathroom to Jamie. The little girl poked Jamie's leg, getting his attention. Maria pointed to the bathroom with a confused look.

"What? We talked, and she told me a little bit about herself." Maria blinked twice at Jamie. "What else were we supposed to talk about?" Maria made a rounding motion across her chest. Jamie rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh at the motion the little girl made. "She asked about Michelle, yes." Maria rolled her arm, telling Jamie to continue. "Michelle and I are old childhood friends." The black haired girl made a heart on her chest. "Her and I were like brother and sister. It would've been too weird for us, so we decided to remain friends." Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Zoey poked her head out, covering her upper body with a towel. After a moment of silence Jamie finally asked, "Can I help you?"

"You were talking to her right?"

"How much did you hear," Jamie asked accusingly.

"Just a little bit," Zoey replied innocently. "You can understand her wacky hand motions completely without asking questions?"

"Someone has to understand her," Jamie answered. "Why?"

"No reason," Zoey replied before closing the door again. Jamie turned to Maria who gave a wide eyed, innocent look.

"What'd you two talk about?" Maria shook her head in response. "Don't give me that. I know she talked to you." Maria shrugged, spinning her finger across from the side of her head. "She's not crazy: you are." Maria glared harshly at Jamie. Just then, the front door opened.

"I don't care what he says! If zombies start flooding into this base they're gonna want as many people with guns as possible immune or otherwise!" Alan stormed into the room with a weary looking Doc behind him. "And damn this is a nice room," the bulky survivor added with a loud, angry voice.

"Hi Alan," Zoey's voice called from the bathroom, over the sound of the shower.

"Hello Zoey," Alan replied, not calming down.

"I take it you didn't get our guns back," Jamie asked.

"What was your first clue," Doc remarked sarcastically as he grabbed a large green T-shirt.

"I still think Williams is gonna shoot us all whenever the food is low and eat us so then he doesn't have to eat that shit they serve us!"

"Alan, he's not a zombie," Jamie replied.

"Whatever, he's a dick! It's not like I'm gonna run around shooting people! I only shoot zombies! Oh shit, wait, how was your date Jamie?" The survivors gave Alan a confused look. "Come on, surely Michelle was 'happy' to see you right?" Jamie rolled his eyes and shook his head while Doc only sighed. Maria kicked Alan's shin in anger. "YEOW! THAT HURT!" Maria made a quick series of angry and rapid arm movements and hand gestures. Doc and Alan gave a blank stare to the little girl before turning to Jamie.

"She says stop being suck a dick Alan…" Jamie looked up at his partners' confused stares. "What? You didn't notice when she pointed to the crotch…?"

"Why were you-,"

"I was watching her hand gestures dumbass," Jamie cut off Alan. "But no, Michelle and I just talked. We're just friends, that's all."

"Incredibly hot friends you got Jamie," Doc replied as he finished taking his button up shirt off.

"Oh yeah Doc, I mean I'm hanging out with you aren't I?" Doc laughed as he put his T-shirt on.

"Damn Jamie, you start hitting on me and I didn't even know we were friends."

"So…you're saying Michelle is single," Alan asked slowly. Jamie sighed heavily in frustration. Maria pulled her leg back again, causing Alan to jump back in fear. "I'm joking! Don't kick me again!" Maria lowered her leg again, giving Alan a warning glare. "I'm surprised boss, Michelle is pretty freaking hot."

"Christ we've been safe for a few hours and he's already back to thinking life is normal," Doc said.

"Hey, I'm just wondering if I've got a chance." The bathroom door opened again as Zoey walked out in her black tank top and shorts with her hair hanging down and damp.

"Alright, who's next in the shower," Zoey questioned.

"I guess I would be," Jamie replied. "Warm water on sore muscles, that's a good thing right Doc?"

"It should be," the doctor replied. "Go nuts." Jamie walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Zoey sighed then hopped onto one of the beds, bouncing up and down slightly.

"I've got a question for all of you," Zoey said. "Well, except Maria who doesn't talk." Maria stuck her tongue out at Zoey, who then stuck her own tongue back out at the little girl.

"Go for gold," Alan replied as he grabbed one of the tank tops.

"Who was your best friend before the infection?" Doc looked up, thinking to himself for a moment while Alan seemed to slow a bit.

"Why," Alan asked.

"Oh, Jamie and I were talking about Michelle and he asked me about my best friend. So?"

"I knew this guy in college, name was Rick. Hell of a guy. Didn't see much of him after college though. Being a doctor means you have little time for best friends."

"What about you Alan," Zoey asked.

"I dunno," the bulky survivor replied quickly.

"Yes you do, tell us," the female survivor persisted. Alan looked at the bathroom door then turned around quickly before huddling everyone close together.

"Alright if you want to know it's gonna be a bombshell," Alan whispered quietly. "I swear, HUGE fucking bombshell and you can't tell anyone I told you okay? Can I trust all of you NOT to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?"

"Of course," Zoey replied. Maria nodded whenever Alan turned to her. Doc nodded as well. Alan lowered his head for a moment and took a deep breath before looking back up at the others.

"Alright, well you remember whenever I was saying how I met Michelle at a party that some guy named Ed threw?" The survivors nodded. "Edward was his full name, and…" Alan sighed, unsure whether or not to continue.

"Tell us," Doc persisted.

"Ed is…was…Jamie's older brother…" Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws dropped, looking to each other. "You CANNOT tell Jamie you know about Ed, otherwise he literally will shoot me."

"Why didn't he mention a brother before," Doc asked in a quiet rage.

"It's a sensitive issue for him," Alan answered, whispering harshly so Doc would calm down. "Those two were insanely close, even for brothers. I only met Jamie through Ed a few times. I'm serious whenever I say you can't tell Jamie. Whenever we got to safety after meeting he told me what happened and bawled like a fucking baby! I'm not kidding." Zoey looked towards the bathroom door with a saddened look on her face. "Ed was sort of the inspirational male role model for Jamie since neither had a dad. That's why I think they're so close…"

"I've never seen you stress so much importance on something like this," Doc muttered. "We won't breathe a word of it. Right girls?" Zoey and Maria both nodded to Alan.

"Thanks guys," Alan replied, taking a sigh of relief. "So wait, who were your best friends Zoey?" The brunette told the others about Bill, Francis, and Louis just as she told Jamie and even added the story of Francis punching a Tank in the face with his bare hands. This story, obviously, angered Alan. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me! How am I supposed to beat that!?"

"Fart in a Tank's face," Doc guessed.

"Can do," Alan replied.

"A living one," Doc added.

"Fuck!" The bathroom door opened again as Jamie walked out with his tank top, blue jeans and damped hair.

"Next?" Alan got up then headed into the bathroom, taking his tank top with him. "So, what'd you guys talk about?"

"Our friends and stuff," Doc replied. "Zoey already told us yours was Michelle."

"Cool," Jamie said with a shrug before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Who else finds this place extremely boring?" Everyone raised their hands in unison. "Alrighty then, let's assign who sleeps in where."

"I CALL THE COUCH," Alan shouted from the bathroom.

"It pulls out into a bed," Jamie replied. "So I guess Zoey and Maria get their own beds." Maria shook her head, pointed to herself then to Zoey. "Alright, so the girls are sharing a bed. I guess that means I get the other bed."

"Wait, so where the fuck do I sleep?"

"With Alan," Jamie replied with a taunting grin as he jumped onto his bed.

"You're fucking joking…"

"NO WAY," Alan shouted in rage.

"Too bad, unless Doc would like to sleep on the cold hard floor?"

"I really hate you," Doc muttered while staring daggers at Jamie. A knocking was heard on the door.

"Excuse me," a soldier called in as he slowly opened the door. "Sergeant Williams would like to see you at your earliest convenience."

"Alright, well Doc's just got to take a shower after Alan so-," The bathroom door flew open as Alan ran out, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Is this about getting my guns back," the bulky survivor quickly asked.

"Uh…no…"

"Fuck." Alan turned to the bathroom just as Doc threw his clothes out and slammed the door. "What the hell man!"

"Hey, I'm taking a shower damn it!" Doc shouted from behind the door. Alan mumbled to himself before pulling his pants up under his towel.

"Like I said: only when you all are ready, but Sergeant Williams would like to see you before you go to bed." The soldier nodded before closing the door. The survivors looked to each other then shrugged.

A few minutes later after Doc was done showering, the survivors were escorted to Sergeant Williams by a number of soldiers. The sergeant was in a totally separate building that was rather large, most likely for most of the soldiers and military staff. After walking through the building a bit, the survivors finally entered an office where Williams sat at his desk, his fingers crossed together and his head down.

"I'm glad you could make it…"

"You totally sound happy," Alan muttered bitterly. Doc swiftly elbowed Alan who only glared back. Williams stood up from his chair and turned to his office's back window.

"Everyone knows it: food rations won't last us past the next week, other supplies are running low. I don't know how much longer we're going to survive out here. People have lost hope. But you all…" Williams turned around, staring at the survivors. "You all are for certain immune to the virus, and you're not carriers. You've fought through that entire city of infected zombies and managed to get here safely…"

"Barely," Jamie replied, grabbing his shoulder gently.

"You five are our last hope. It's with a heavy heart that I ask this of you but…I need you all to go back into the city to find my missing squads. Either the fuel they got or the radios that were sent with them." The survivors were quiet, staring at Williams for a moment.

"Sweet," Alan finally said with a smirk on his face.

"When do we leave," Jamie asked.

"Not immediately of course," Williams replied. "Surely Jamie needs time to heal and you all need time to relax obviously. Before the end of the week at the latest is when everything is going to become scarce. I don't want to rush you all; I'm asking enough from you all to head back out there."

"Hey if I get my guns back I'll be just fine," Alan told the sergeant.

"What day is it," Jamie asked.

"I believe it's a Monday if I'm not mistaken…"

"We'll be gone by Thursday," Jamie replied. Williams nodded once, staring for a moment at his desk before looking back up at the survivors.

"Thank you all…" Jamie nodded before turning around and walking out of Williams' office, followed by the rest of his team.


	12. Calm Before the Storm

Alan- N/A

Doc- N/A

Jamie- N/A

Zoey- N/A

--

The survivors went to bed shortly after their meeting with Sergeant Williams. They weren't angry, sad, nor were they happy or excited. They knew what they were sighed up to do had to be done, and they weren't going to say no. There were people in the base, people with families, friends, and other people who were important to them and that they needed to see.

…

Bill's leg was twisted around, his kneecap practically shattered. Louis and Zoey helped carry him to a safe house while Francis blasted oncoming zombies. Once the first three got in, Francis ran into the safe house, slamming the door on the angry zombies. Bill groaned in pain as Zoey and Louis gently set him down on the ground.

"Is there anything we can do Bill," Louis asked.

"Give me a shit load of drugs," Bill replied with a pained smirk. The others smiled in appreciation of how he was taking the whole thing. "I'll just hold you all back, just leave me in here!"

"No way," Zoey snapped. "You've gotten us this far, there's no way we'd leave you here."

"There's nothing I can do in my condition. You all can still make it to the evac zone, but not while carrying me."

"Hold on," Louis finally said as he stood up. "There's some first aid in here somewhere." Francis walked up next to Zoey and crouched down next to Bill.

"You're gonna be fine old man, beard and all," Francis said, placing a supportive hand on Bill's shoulder. The veteran nodded and groaned in pain. "Zoey, give him some pills." The brunette nodded then pulled out a bottle of pills, pouring a few into her hand. Zoey handed the pills out to Bill who grabbed them and chewed them with a loud crunching. "That help?"

"Not really…but thanks…" Zoey smiled and nodded just as Louis came up with a first aid kit. "That damn tape won't do shit for this. I need a splint at least."

"You also need your leg back in the right position," Francis added. Bill turned to Francis, both with a hard, serious look in their eyes. "Uh…Zoey, you might wanna go into the next room. You don't wanna see this…" Zoey stared at Bill, then Francis, and Louis with confused looks. "I'm gonna twist Bill's leg back, and it's gonna be nasty."

"Somethin like that ain't a sight for you kid," Bill remarked. "Trust me, I don't even like seein it." Zoey looked down then up at Bill and nodded to him before walking into the other room.

"This is gonna hurt," Francis said to Bill. The veteran took a deep puff of his cigarette then nodded to Francis. The biker slowly placed his hands on Bills leg and prepared himself.

Zoey walked into the other room, staring at the wall full off graffiti, trying to keep her mind off of what was about to happen. Suddenly, a sickening cracking noise was heard, followed by Bill's agonizing scream.

…

Zoey sat up quickly, gasping suddenly and panting heavily. The brunette looked around and realized she hadn't waken any of her new teammates. Zoey caught her breath then slowly and quietly got out of bed and headed for the door. She walked around the empty halls of the military base and headed into the dimly lit cafeteria. Zoey had no idea what time it was, but the sun still wasn't out. She sat at a nearby table and grabbed her arms. The base was really cold for her wearing only a tank top and shorts. Zoey sat in silence, trying to get her mind off of the memories of her old team. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering if fate would treat her and her new team differently, or if this team would befall the same tragedy.

"Hey," a tired voice said. Zoey turned around with wide eyes, seeing a tired Jamie stretching while approaching her. "Why're you up so early?"

"Me? What about you?" Jamie yawned then sat down next to Zoey.

"I heard you leave the room," he answered. "What's wrong?" Zoey looked down and sighed to herself. "You don't wanna talk about it?"

"I do, kind of. It's hard to explain but…recently I've been having the same dreams about my old team and it's all leading up to whenever we…they…" Zoey shook her head, trying to get the memories out and groaning in frustration.

"They're just dreams," Jamie said, trying to reassure Zoey.

"But it's weird, I dreamed about this time whenever Bill got seriously hurt by a Smoker, and then you got hurt by a Tank and—and-,"

"Hey, Zoey, come on," Jamie said, cutting his partner off. "We've been fine so far, no worries." Zoey shook her head, trying to control herself. Jamie put his arm around Zoey's shoulders, trying to support her. "Everything's gonna be fine okay?" Zoey's eyes lowered as she leaned onto Jamie's arm. "You're really cold right now." Zoey laughed quietly a bit before her eyelids drooped down slowly. "Hey, I'm not gonna lie; I'm feeling kinda awkward at the moment…" Zoey's eyes widened as she quickly jerked her head up.

"Shit, I'm sorry! What the fuck was I thinking?"

"No you're fine, I just was thrown off a bit. I'm more use to shooting zombies with you, not-,"

"Not me leaning on your arm right?" Jamie nodded in response, laughing nervously. "I guess we should be heading back to bed right?"

"Probably, the others would worry in their sleep." Zoey smiled then stood up after Jamie. The two walked back to their quarters and fell back to sleep.

Zoey didn't dream the rest of the night, allowing the survivor to get a good night's rest. Morning broke and Doc was the first one awake, deciding to explore the base a little more. Jamie was the next one to wake up, roaming around the civilian quarters for no particular reason. Maria and Zoey woke up next, the latter stretching her arms above her head while the little girl rubbed her eyes. The two girls looked at each other and smiled to each other.

"How'd you sleep," Zoey asked as she dropped her arms by her side. Maria stuck her thumb up in response. "Good, wanna go walking around?" Maria nodded then threw her covers off and placed her feet onto the floor at the same time as Zoey.

The girls walked around in their socks, shivering a bit from the brisk morning air. They entered the cafeteria area where a few other survivors sat around talking quietly. Whenever they heard the doors open, all eyes were focused on the two girls. They stopped, noticing the looks and stood around with dumbfounded looks on their faces. A middle aged woman walked up and immediately hugged Zoey and began to cry.

"Bless you child, bless you!" Zoey's eyes were as large as dinner plates, confused by this woman's display of affection. "And one so young to witness such horrors," the woman continued, kneeling down to Maria and placing her face between her hands. "May God watch over you child."

"Um…I'm confused," Zoey finally said.

"We've all been told about what you guys are going to do," another survivor, a man with a scruffy face, and black hair said. "You're going back out into hell to give us all a chance to get out of here…"

"Wow, news spreads fast around here," Zoey said to herself.

"Williams told us, probably to give us some hope in this hellhole," a large, elderly man with a grey beard and thick accent continued. Doc and Jamie walked into the cafeteria, learning a few moments ago that everyone knew about their mission. "You all are takin on a big load on yer shoulders."

"We all appreciate what you're doing for us," one woman said. "Some of us are willing to leave, but Williams won't let anyone make any unnecessary sacrifices."

"After sending out four squads of marines I'm not surprised," the black haired man muttered. "But there's something different about you guys. Maybe it's because you've lasted three weeks outside and didn't die, or maybe it's because we're that desperate for hope…"

"Gee, thanks," Zoey replied sarcastically.

"I know that the lord will watch over all of you," the middle aged woman said. "He will give you the strength to keep going and bring you back safely."

"Um…thank you," Jamie responded awkwardly. "Hey Zoey, we're going to see if we can get our hummer ready for Thursday, you wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure," Zoey replied. She grabbed Maria's hand and the four exited the civilian quarters. Once the survivors got outside, they headed towards what they were told was the garage. Outside of the small building were three guards talking to one another.

"Excuse me," Jamie called out, gaining the soldiers' attention. "Can we make sure our vehicle is ready?

"We're doing that ourselves sir," one of the soldiers replied. "We have a little fuel left in this station, but not enough to evacuate anyone, so we're putting all the fuel into the hummer. Also each of the vehicles that we sent out had a device in it that could be detected on our scanning systems, and we're installing a radar that should be able to detect the vehicles so you don't go stumbling around in the lost city. And Sergeant Williams wanted to see if we couldn't add a few compartments to hold weapons and ammunition for you all."

"Wow," was all Jamie said.

"That's quite the upgrade," Doc added with a look of wonder in his eyes. "High tech upgrades."

"Yes sirs," the soldier said with a nod. "Sergeant Williams wanted to make sure you all were fully prepared for this trip."

"So when should it be ready," Jamie asked.

"Before you and your team depart on Thursday sir."

"Alright, thank you very much." Jamie and the others walked away from the garage. "So I guess we just hang out until Thursday…"

"You probably need to rest more than any of us," Doc snapped at Jamie. "You're still injured from that damn Tank."

"It's a Tank Doc, of course I'm going to be hurting!"

"Which is why you need to be resting, not worrying about our suicide mission," Doc fired back. Jamie sighed then rolled his eyes.

"He has a point," Zoey agreed. "The last thing we need is you to be hurting on this mission." The brunette smiled a bit, "For something like this you'll need to be at full strength so you can get batted around some more." Jamie smirked while Doc and Maria chuckled.

"Oh aren't you the comedian," Jamie asked, turning his head towards Zoey. "Fine, if you all want me out of the way THAT badly then I'll go get some rest."

The survivors made it back into the civilian building and made it to their room. Alan was still asleep on the foldout bed, snoring loudly. Doc rolled his eyes while Zoey and Maria giggled. Jamie walked up, placed his foot at Alan's back then rolled the survivor off the bed.

"OW, hey I'm up, I'm up!" Alan quickly shot his head up, looking around the room with squinted eyes. "What's up boss?"

"These guys want me to rest so my shoulders and back will heal faster. So I need your loud snoring ass out of here."

"Well what is a guy who shoots zombies supposed to do in a place where they won't even give me a gun?"

"Well they have a golf tournament going on today," Doc replied sarcastically. "Jamie needs to rest, not be up walking around and stressing about our mission. He needs some rest and relaxation."

"Fine," Alan sighed out as he stood up.

"WHOA HEY," the survivors shouted. Jamie covered his eyes and turned his head while Doc stuck his arm out, covering his view while still looking away, as Zoey covered Maria's eyes and had her own shut tightly.

"What? Just because it's the zombie apocalypse doesn't mean a human being can't get morning wood."

"Give us some damn warning you sick bastard," Jamie exclaimed, still covering his eyes.

"As long as you weren't dreaming of me, and you don't show that thing anymore, I'm fine," Zoey added.

"Oh you babies," Alan muttered as he walked towards the bathroom. The door shut and everyone opened their eyes.

"That was…disturbing," Doc said after a prolonged silence. Maria tugged Zoey's shorts gently, wondering what the fuss was about. "I'm not telling her."

"Trust us Maria: you don't want to know," was all Jamie said. Alan walked back out with loose pants and a tank top on. "Please tell me you didn't…"

"I just put pants on. It goes away on its own after awhile."

"Alright, I'm officially creeped out," Zoey said. "Alan for the next five hours I have a restraining order against you got it?"

"Whatever you say," Alan replied as he walked out of the bedroom door.

"Is he always like this in the morning," Zoey asked.

"A carefree, jerkish, and somewhat stuck up attitude, minus the morning wood," Doc asked. "Yeah, that's usually Alan in the morning. He'll be bitching about something within an hour."

"Alright, you wanted me to get some R and R, so get out," Jamie said to the rest of his team.

"I mean it, get some rest," Doc warned his partner. Jamie nodded before Doc left the room. Maria walked out of the door while Zoey placed her hand on the knob, but looked back at Jamie.

"Get better soon," Zoey said. Jamie smiled and nodded to her. Zoey smiled back then moved to the other side of the door, closing it gently. The brunette looked up and saw Michelle walking up to her.

"Hi," the blonde greeted with a sort of awkward smile.

"Hello," Zoey replied. "You wanting to see Jamie?"

"Is he sleeping?"

"Well not right now, but we want him to rest up a bit before we leave." Michelle nodded a few times, looking at the ground emptily. "You can talk to him later okay?"

"Yeah, I know, but…there's so much I want to ask him, so much that I have to tell him." Michelle sighed, trying to get a hold of herself. "I'm just worried about him leaving again…" The blonde looked up at the brunette, "You're Zoey right? I've heard a lot about you from Jamie."

"Me, when," Zoey asked.

"The first day you all came here," Michelle answered. "Jamie told me about all of you, including Maria. He said he was injured because of you…"

"I know…I apologized about that and he said it wasn't my fault and-,"

"Just make sure you can take care of yourself this time," Michelle snapped.

"Excuse me," Zoey asked, bewildered.

"There are still people who care about Jamie and I don't want to see him get killed by saving someone like you!"

"I never asked him to save me. He just did it without thinking."

"Well if you have to have Jamie risk his life to save you then maybe you should just stay here out of his way so he can survive!"

"What is your problem," Zoey asked, laughing a bit. "You think you're the only one whose lost someone in this apocalypse? I can handle myself just fine out there, and I've happened to save Jamie a few times myself!"

"Just not when it counts apparently." Zoey laughed in enraged shock.

"You are seriously asking to get smacked bitch." Without warning, Michelle smacked Zoey first. The brunette came back and socked Michelle in the jaw, knocking her against the wall. The blonde stepped forward quickly and punched Zoey in the side of the face, causing her to stumble back a bit. Doc, Maria, and Alan, who had been at a distance this whole time, ran up and separated the two girls.

"Whoa, whoa ladies please!" Doc shouted.

"Yeah, if you're gonna do this let's get some jello first," Alan added. The bedroom door flew open and Jamie came out with a confused look.

"What the hell is going on out here?"

"This blonde bimbo is saying it's my fault that you're injured," Zoey shouted, fighting against Doc's opposing arm.

"That's because it is! Jamie, you shouldn't have to throw yourself in harms way for this stupid bitch if she can't handle herself!"

"Says the girl who's been hiding and crying behind these walls this whole time! I've been out there with those fucking zombies for three weeks, surviving while you've been bawling your eyes out and cutting your wrists you whore!"

"Oh I'm a whore? Well at least I can get a guy to look at me unlike you, you scrawny shut in!" Zoey pushed harder against Doc's arm while Michelle did the same, both wanting to murder the other.

"Enough," Jamie shouted. "Michelle; do NOT blame Zoey for what I did. I would've done the same for Maria, Doc, you, or even Alan! Zoey, just let it go alright?" Zoey eased up, clenching her jaw angrily while still glaring at Michelle. Doc lowered his arms as both girls eased up a bit. "Now both of you apologize, please."

"Sorry," Zoey muttered unconvincingly.

"Whatever," Michelle replied, turning her head away from Zoey. "I just hope next time Jamie can't save you."

Zoey's eyes flared in anger before she kicked Michelle straight on in the stomach. The blonde gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and she fell down face first, clutching her stomach. Everyone's eyes were wide in shock, staring down at Michelle, before they turned to Zoey who angrily walked away. Jamie shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance before chasing after Zoey while Doc tried to help Michelle.

The brunette threw open a pair of double doors and stomped to the nearest couple of trees and sat down with his arms folded across her knees. Jamie opened the doors and looked around outside for a moment before finally seeing Zoey and walking towards her. The brunette glared angrily ahead of her, ignoring Jamie as he approached.

"That was…uh…"

"Go ahead and scream at me," Zoey snapped. "After what I did to that bitch you've gotta be mad at me right? So have at it."

"I think you've already had enough at it with Michelle," Jamie replied as he sat next to Zoey, bending one leg up while extending the other out in front of him. There was a silence between the two, Zoey staring angrily ahead of herself while Jamie just watched and waited.

"She doesn't know anything," Zoey finally blurted out. "I never asked you to save me! She thinks I'm just a helpless little girl! I still blame myself for what happened to you! I still blame myself for what happened to Bill, what happened to Francis, and what happened to Louis! It's my fault they're dead and it's my fault you almost died and—and…" Zoey stopped, cut off by her sobs. Jamie placed his arm around Zoey and scooted closer to her to comfort her.

"Don't blame yourself okay? There was nothing you could've done." Zoey sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking as she did. "Michelle is just…overbearing sometimes. I know I'd be the same way with anyone if I were in her shoes. But she's lost her mother, and her family. She doesn't know you've lost people too. She's just looking for someone to blame for this whole infection that's taken a lot from her and everyone else. But please don't blame yourself Zoey." The brunette laughed between sobs and rubbed some of her tears away.

"Maybe I am just a stupid defenseless girl," Zoey said. "All I've been doing since we got here is cry my eyes out."

"Crying doesn't make you stupid or defenseless," Jamie replied. "It's what makes us human. Whenever we were outside we were always running at full speed without taking a real break right? Well now that we've had a chance to take a break like this, it gives us a moment to take a deep breath, cry, relax, whatever." Zoey smiled a bit as her sobs slowly died down.

"You're pretty good with these pep talks," the brunette murmured. Jamie smiled and shook Zoey a little bit in reassurance.

"I just don't want to see you blaming yourself like this." Zoey looked down then back up at Jamie with a wide smile.

"Thanks Jamie…"

"No problem. But, now I've got to go talk to Michelle now. That is if you didn't put her in the infirmary." Zoey chuckled a little bit, reflecting on her childish actions only moments ago.

Jamie held his hand out to Zoey. The brunette took his hand then was pulled up to her feet. The two went back inside were the survivors and Michelle waited for them. Zoey stood back while Jamie went first and dragged Michelle away to talk to her. Zoey walked up to the others with an embarrassed look on her face.

"DAMN GIRL," Alan screamed. "That was fucking GREAT! You ninja kicked her right in the fucking gut!"

"And extremely hard I might add," Doc said. "She literally got up like a minute before you two came back." Zoey smiled and looked down in embarrassment. "I take it Jamie talked you down to calmer levels?" Zoey nodded, still looking down. "Alright then, let's go roaming this base since we've got nothing better to do."

Jamie walked with Michelle to the nearest exit, standing outside the door. Michelle had her arms crossed and an enraged look on her face. "Alright, do you want to start?" Michelle remained silent, causing Jamie to sigh. "Okay, then let me explain. I chose to save Zoey because she was in danger. I've thrown myself into harm's way for everyone else in my team and I've been injured nearly every time I did it too, just FYI. Now tell me why you exploded at Zoey like that."

"Because I'm going to kill that bitch if I lose you because of her!" Michelle turned to Jamie, tears gathering up in her eyes. "I've already lost my friends and my family because of those zombies, and I thought I lost you! Whenever I heard you were alive I was so happy to know that someone close to me survived. But then I heard you were in the medical wing and…and I was so worried. I didn't know if you were infected or if you were dead or dying or what! And…you told me that you met Zoey only a few days ago, and you almost died for her…" Michelle looked up at Jamie, tears running down her cheeks. "I don't know what I would do if I lost the last person close to me because he decided to save some stupid bitch he just met…" Jamie stayed silent for a moment before sighing heavily.

"Michelle, you know I'm a selfless person; it's the way I was raised. If I met Zoey yesterday I still would've thrown myself into danger for her."

"But why," Michelle asked in outrage. "Why her: someone you hardly even know?! Would the world really be that much worse off if she died?!"

"Would the world be worse off if I was gone," Jamie fired back. "Aside from you, my uncle, and my mother, no one else would care if I was gone. Hell, my mom and uncle probably think I'm already dead. It's not a matter of who's more important or who's not, it's a matter of survival in this apocalypse and I don't think any one of us is going to make it through this is we don't make sacrifices. I mean I don't see you blaming Williams for sending me out into hell."

"We need hope Jamie. We've been here for three weeks, starving, cold and alone!" Jamie sighed and turned his head for a moment before staring back at Michelle. "I'm not apologizing to her no matter what you say." Jamie nodded, his eyes full of dissatisfaction. "I still want you to come back though…"

"I will," Jamie replied sternly. "Just do me one favor: if you can't talk to Zoey without it ending in a fist fight then don't talk to her at all okay?"

"Fine," Michelle replied. Jamie opened the door and held it open for Michelle as she walked into the building.

The rest of the day, Jamie stayed inside his room and no more fighting occurred between anyone, with the exception of Alan arguing that he wanted to go on the walls and snipe some zombies. The next few days passed by slowly from boredom and the repetitive day by day life within the base until early Thursday morning finally came. Alan wore military boots with camouflage pants, and a long sleeved black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Doc wore his newly washed white button up shirt, black pants and leather shoes. Zoey wore a red jacket with a white stripe running down the sleeves with a black tank top under it, blue jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. Jamie wore military boots like Alan, dark blue jeans, and his Devil May Cry shirt with a military vest over it. The survivors walked down a row of soldiers who saluted them and survivors who gave their thanks and praise. The survivors approached Williams who had two soldiers on either side of him. The sound of gravel crunching caused the survivors to turn their heads, seeing their hummer coming around the corner with covered tires and some better exterior work.

"Holee shit," Alan called out while Doc whistled. Jamie and Zoey turned from the vehicle to Williams.

"Maria is should still be sleeping," Jamie said. "We're leaving her here because she's not immune. Take care of her please."

"We will," Williams replied. "You have my word." The survivors nodded to Williams who stood stiff and saluted the survivors. The survivors returned the salute before heading to their vehicle.

"Jamie," a voice called out. The survivors stopped and turned around. Michelle ran up to Jamie and threw her arms around his neck. Jamie blushed a bit while the rest of his team just stared. "Please come back safely…"

"I will," Jamie replied. "I promise…" Jamie and Michelle let go of one another and the survivors headed once again to the hummer. Doc got in the driver's side, Jamie got in the passenger side, and Alan and Zoey sat in the back.

"Holy double shit," Alan screamed as he looked in the back, staring at all the guns that were loaded in the truck. "We're a transportable armory!"

"Buckle up," Doc replied as he and Jamie buckled their seatbelts.

"So many guns! I can kill so many zombies!" Jamie and Doc looked at each other, the former nodded. Doc hit the gas and flew off past the open doors, causing Alan to fall face first into the back. The hummer sped down the dirt trail as the doors slowly closed behind them. "Oh you're a fucking riot Doc," Alan called out as he sat up. "Seriously, this is a lot of fucking guns!"

"Keep it in your pants," Jamie replied. "Is this the radar Williams was telling us about?" Said device beeped once, showing nothing on the green screen. "It doesn't tell us where to go. So I guess we just wander aimlessly after all…"

"NOOOO!! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!"

"What," Jamie asked, honestly concerned.

"Those fucking bastards! They forgot my RPG!"

"Oh thank god," everyone sighed out in relief.

"Jerk-offs! It has to be here somewhere!" Suddenly, the RPG came out from beneath a blanket with two little hands holding it. "Oh, thanks Maria." The hummer slid to a sudden halt as everyone except Alan whipped around, seeing Maria pulling herself up.

"What the hell are you doing here," Doc asked. Maria sighed then looked at everyone with an angry glare. The little girl began waving her arms around, making random gestures.

"She says she can't believe we'd leave her after everything we've been through and that…" Maria continued with her random arm movements. "We're all in this together, immune or not." Alan, Doc, and Zoey turned slowly to Jamie. "Stop staring at me just because I understand her!"

"At any rate, we can't turn around now," Doc said after a moment more of staring. "I guess she's coming with us." Maria grinned with success as the hummer sped up again towards the city overrun with zombies.


	13. Back in Hell

Alan- undecided

Doc- undecided

Jamie- undecided

Zoey- undecided

--

The survivors had been going down the same dirt road, through the same woods for nearly fifteen minutes now. "Jesus H. when are we going to get back into the city?!"

"I dunno," Jamie replied to Alan. "It shouldn't take us this long should it?"

"It sure as shit didn't take us this long last time," Doc responded, obviously annoyed. Zoey sighed then stared out of her window, seeing something shocking.

"Stop the car!" Doc slowly brought the hummer to a halt and all eyes were on Zoey. "There's one of those vehicles out there I think…" Everyone looked out to the right of the hummer and saw a few yards into the forest a military jeep, flipped over and growing moss.

"Well if they didn't even make it this far out then they don't have anything of value right," Doc asked Jamie. "No gas, and I'm sure if they had the radio they would've picked it up."

"It's worth a look," Jamie replied. "Alan and I are going out to investigate. Maria open the back once we get there so we can pick some weapons." The black haired little girl nodded then headed for the back as Jamie and Alan got out of the hummer. The back door opened up and Jamie picked up a pump shotgun.

"Seriously boss," Alan questioned. "Just a pump?"

"The vehicle is only a few yards away and we don't need to waste our better weapons. Just get the other pump shotgun and don't bitch."

"Okay," Alan replied, picking up a chrome shotgun. "Let's do this."

The two survivors climbed a torn down wire fence and slowly made their way towards the overturned military vehicle. The dead leaves and twigs crunched and snapped as they slowly and cautiously towards the abandoned jeep. Jamie bent down and looked in the windows, seeing no bodies, but tons of blood and brass lying around. Jamie knelt down, leaning his shotgun against the side of the jeep while Alan kept an eye out. The survivors yanked on the door handle, accidently pulling the whole rusted thing off with little effort. Alan turned his head, giving a look at Jamie who shrugged it off then dropped the door to the side. Jamie poked his head in, turning on a small flashlight and scanning the vehicle for a moment.

"Anything in there boss," Alan asked.

"Nothing of any value. Just some dried up blood and bullet shells…"

"Damn, this was a waste…" Jamie got out of the overturned vehicle and got up, grabbing his shotgun before he and Alan walked back to the hummer. The two got in and closed the doors. "Keep on moving Doc!"

"Alright, that was an amusing detour." The hummer rolled forward down the road. "Anyone else find it odd that there aren't any zombies even lingering about?"

"You're just thinking too much buddy," Alan replied, throwing his feet up on the seat in front of him. "Wait until we get to the city then we'll have plenty of zombies to shoot." The hummer turned the corner, seeing what looked to be endless zombies filling the dirt trail and the surrounding woods. "Or there'll be zombies right around the corner…"

"Floor it Doc," Jamie shouted. The blonde slammed his foot on the gas, flying down the dirt road, getting the attention of the massive horde that screamed and charged at them. The hummer smashed through the zombies and ran over a few others, making one hell of a bumpy ride. However, despite the constant speed bumps, the hummer continued to roll fairly well through the clogged trail. "Shit, why the fuck are there so many of them?!"

"They missed their daddy," Alan shouted with a crazed look as he rolled down his window with an assault rifle in hand. The survivor unleashed a stream of bullets from his gun and into the horde of zombies that mindlessly ran at the vehicle. "Yeah mother fuckers! Come on and get ready to die!" Suddenly, a Hunter leaped forward onto the windshield of the hummer, smacking into the wide sheet of glass.

"Fuck," Doc shouted as he tried to swing the hummer around in an attempt to throw the Hunter off. Jamie grabbed a pistol then leaned out of his window once he rolled it down. The Hunter turned its head towards Jamie who slowly aimed then fired a bullet cleanly through the zombie's head. The Hunter fell backwards, becoming yet another speed bump for the hummer to roll over. "There's the city!" Doc said excitedly as he pointed forward. The hummer broke through the last bit of zombies in its way then sped out into the streets while the zombies futilely chased after them.

"Come on ya fucking hungry bastards," Alan called out as he was still leaning out of the window, firing at the zombies that were becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. "Whoo! Who else had fun!?" Everyone glared at Alan who was unfazed by their looks.

"Oh shit," Doc exclaimed silently. "There's something on the radar!" Everyone looked at the detecting device and saw a giant yellow dot on it. "Well fuck yes! Our luck may finally be turning around!" Suddenly, a powerful impact hit the right side of the hummer, lifting it up on two wheels and almost tipping it over. "FUCKING SHIT!!" The hummer landed back on four wheels and the survivors turned to see a Charger backing up to charge again. "Oh shit, not this thing!"

"I'm gonna give this Charger a bad fucking day," Jamie said angrily as he opened the door and got out. The Charger was now all eyes on Jamie who shot at the one armed zombie with his pistol. The Charger screamed in rage then shot forward at Jamie. The survivor dove to the side and rolled as the Charger flew past him. "Come oh ya ugly bastard!" Jamie waved his hand mockingly as the Charger turned around. The Charger threw its head back and screamed as it charged again. Jamie stood still for a moment before quickly stepping to the side and holding his pistol out. The barrel of the pistol was aimed directly at the Charger's head before Jamie fired one round into the zombie's skull. The Charger fell forward, rolling several times before lying flat on the ground. "And THAT is how ya do it!"

"Fuck me that's impressive," Alan stated as he approached Jamie with a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

"Revenge is a dish best served with a bullet in the other's face," Jamie replied. Zoey and Doc walked up, the former handing Jamie a submachine gun. "So why're we all walking to where we need to go?" Doc pointed to the nearby building which was half collapsed in on itself. "Ah…right…"

"So find a way in first right?" Jamie nodded to Alan.

"Doc you're with me, Zoey, you go with Alan. Wait, where's Maria?"

"In the hummer, hiding under some covers," Zoey answered.

"Ah, well let's move out then." The survivors split up into their groups and walked around two different sides of the building.

"Just like old times," Alan said aloud. "Well…four days ago, but still! Just like the good old days!"

"We're looking for a way in don't forget," Zoey replied with a smirk on her face. "I don't want to stumble on a Tank, but with our luck…"

"Yeah…I should've brought my RPG."

"So how're your injuries," Doc asked, scanning the darkness with his flashlight on his shotgun.

"A lot better actually. My shoulders hardly bother me, and I can pretty much move them however I want."

"Alright, because I have a feeling we're probably gonna find something bad…"

"TANK," Zoey and Alan's voices screamed shortly before the sounds of gunfire.

"See what I mean," Doc said as he and Jamie ran around the back of the building.

A Tank rampaged towards Alan and Zoey who ran back around the corner. Jamie and Doc opened fire into the Tank's back, causing it to grunt in pain before turning around. The giant monster charged after the other two who quickly ran back around the corner. The Tank followed Jamie and Doc, both of which huddled around the corner and waited for the Tank to come around the corner. Doc blasted it in the face with his shotgun, causing the Tank to scream and stumble back in pain. Doc started running while Jamie fired at the Tank's body with his submachine gun, slowly moving away from the monster. The Tank swung its arms around, tearing through the brick wall behind Jamie. The survivor dove to the side, avoiding the avalanche of brick and stone that threatened to smash him into paste. The Tank however, wasn't as lucky as another half of the building came crashing down onto it. Jamie got up just as Zoey, Doc, and Alan came up to him, staring at the pile of rubble.

"Is it dead," Zoey asked. Suddenly, brick and dust went flying outward as the Tank exploded from the pile of rubble and charged towards the survivors.

"Shit," Jamie shouted, spraying the Tank with bullets.

Doc and Alan blasted their shotguns before running to the side while Zoey stood next to Jamie, firing at the Tank with her dual pistols. The Tank screamed louder and louder until it finally fell forward onto its massive hands, panting heavily. Alan walked up with his shotgun, stuck it out as far as possible with one arm then unloaded a shell into the Tank's face. The monster groaned then fell forward into the ground, blood oozing from all its wounds.

"Now that was fucking cool! I was this bastard's executioner!"

"Hopefully next time he'll tear you in half," Doc muttered as he headed for the giant hole in the building. "Looks like that bastard did us a favor." The blonde walked into the building, followed by Zoey and Jamie. The survivors were looking at a military jeep with the front end nearly obliterated from a crash, partially roasted from an explosion, and dead bodies in the front seats. "Okay, there has to be something in here right? I mean if this vehicle tripped off the radar then it means there's something here right?"

"Should be," Jamie replied. "Start searching, Alan, stay and guard."

Doc opened the driver's door and pulled out the long dead driver and let the corpse fall to the ground. Jamie opened the passenger's door and did the same with the other body. The two began looking through the jeep, opening the glove box, looking on the dashboard, floorboard, under seats, everywhere they could. Zoey opened up the rear of the jeep and found a large pile of ragged old clothes and some empty ammunition clips. She began digging through the mountain of cloth and worthless ammo as Doc and Jamie finished their inspection of the front seats.

"Anything," Doc asked.

"An old cigarette," Jamie answered, sitting up with the rolled up bit of burnt and chewed tobacco between his fingers with a disgusted look. "What about you," Jamie then asked, throwing the nasty roll to the ground.

"Nothing besides dirt and…dirt…"

"Zoey, you find anything back there?"

"Still looking," the brunette replied as she continued throwing clothes behind her. "Why the hell did they need so much clothing?" Zoey then found something that caused her to freeze with an astonished expression. Jamie and Doc made their way to the back end of the jeep, noticing Zoey's face then looking at what she held. In her hands she held a black leather vest with some blood and a bit of smeared Boomer bile on it. Doc and Jamie looked at Zoey with concerned expressions.

"What's wrong Zoey," Jamie finally asked.

"This…this is Francis' jacket…"

"Francis," Doc repeated.

"You mean one of the people you've traveled with," Jamie asked. Zoey nodded, still with wide eyes of confusion and shock.

"How'd the military get this," Zoey wondered. "Maybe…could they have…?"

"It's possible they survived," Doc replied.

"You don't know! You weren't there," Zoey shouted, turning an angry glare to Doc. The blonde took a slow step away.

"Maybe if we knew the story," Jamie began, "We could determine if they were alive or not. Right now Doc and I will keep looking through this jeep and if you need to, you can have a moment to yourself Zoey." The brunette nodded then took a few steps away from the jeep, clutching the jacket tightly. Jamie looked to Doc then jerked his head to the jeep. Doc nodded then followed Jamie back to the jeep.

Zoey looked down at the vest in her hand, inspecting it once again. There was no doubt it was Francis' vest, but that was impossible. She knew that there was no way they survived, but yet the military had his vest. How was it possible that they had this? How'd they acquire it?

"Bingo," Doc shouted as he pulled out an old radio from under the back passenger's seat.

"You can say that again," Jamie exclaimed as he pulled out two gallons of gas with four others under the seats.

"Gladly: BINGO!" Zoey slung the vest over her shoulder then walked over towards Jamie, grabbing the other two gallons of gas.

The three survivors made their way back to the hummer, Jamie and Zoey heading towards the back while Alan and Doc moved to the front. Maria opened the trunk door and pulled up the back flooring. Zoey and Jamie lied the gas tanks down, scooting them into the far corners for more space. Jamie looked over at Zoey, who was still deep in thought. She was snapped out of her trance whenever Jamie placed a hand on her shoulder. Zoey looked over to Jamie who had a questioning look on his face.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get moving." Jamie nodded then both survivors walked to opposite sides of the hummer then got in.

"Alright, military base here we come," Doc shouted.

"Wrong Doc," Alan replied. "You think one radio and four gallons of gas are gonna be enough to get everyone in that base out safely?"

"He's right," Jamie agreed. "We still need to get a few more tanks of gas, or at least get more radios."

"Explain to me why we need more working radios," Doc asked, turning around from the driver's side.

"Williams said we need all the radios, so we're getting more than one radio. Plus we need to see if we can't find more clues about Zoey's old team."

"Say what," Alan exclaimed, turning around in his seat.

"It's a long story, and we'll explain when we start moving. Doc get going."

"Right," Doc muttered, putting the hummer in driver then flying down the streets.

Zoey sat quietly with the vest in her lap, staring down at it with various emotions running through her head. Maria popped over the back seat, her head next to Zoey's shoulder, with a concerned look towards her fellow lady survivor.

"So now that we're on the move, explain," Alan said to Jamie, turning around in his seat again.

"This vest belonged to one of my old friends," Zoey replied slowly. "Francis to be specific…"

"Francis, wait that's the dude who punched the Tank!" Jamie glared at Alan, "Oh, wait, you found that in the jeep…?" Zoey nodded once. "So he's still alive right?"

"No, he couldn't be!" Zoey's grip tightened on the vest as she bit her lower lip, trying to fight the hopeful thoughts that her team may still be alive.

"Why don't you tell us what happened," Jamie suggested with a gentle tone. Zoey took in a deep breathe then sighed out.

"Okay…it started whenever we were running through an alley. Francis alerted a horde of zombies, but they were small in numbers so it wasn't a huge deal. But a Smoker wrapped its tongue around Bills legs and twisted one of his legs around from the shin down." Everyone aside from Zoey winced slightly at the thought. "We took him to a safe house so we could help him. Francis twisted his leg back around so we could have a chance to patch him up…"

…

We exited the safe house, Bill was leaning on Francis and armed with a pistol while Francis had a submachine gun. Louis was carrying an assault rifle and I had a shotgun. We heard about military squads scouting the city and taking people to a safe outpost. We left the safe house and head lots of gunfire nearby and we hauled ass.

"Argh, damn it," Bill shouted as he tried to keep his now taped and splinted leg up.

"God damn it Bill, just lean on me, beard and all!"

"This ain't no gay cowboy flick Francis!"

"Come on guys, the military is just up ahead!" Louis shouted from the mouth of the alley. "We finally made it!"

We moved as fast as we possibly could, looking down the street and seeing a group of marines in a heavily armored vehicle fighting off a massive horde. I pulled out a pipe bomb and threw it away from the marines and the zombies chased after it. The marines saw us and shouted for us to hurry. Louis took point and shot the oncoming zombies while Francis and Bill hobbled along, picking off zombies while I stayed behind them, covering the rear. Two marines ran up and stood on opposite sides of Bill and Francis, covering them while they hurried to safety. Louis helped clear the path to the military vehicle and eventually got there safely, but didn't notice how far back the rest of us were.

"Shit, come on guys, you can make it!"

Francis tried moving faster, but Bill being too stubborn to accept his help, which made things difficult. Finally, one of the marines threw Bill's arm over his shoulder then that's when they began closing the distance faster. The other marine and I still covered the rear as more and more zombies came at us.

"Zoey, come on," Francis shouted.

I turned around and saw that they were safely in the vehicle, just waiting for me. The marine signaled me to go, and I sprinted for the vehicle. But…that's when things got bad. A giant boulder smashed into the side of the vehicle, sending it flying to the side and out of my path. A Tank took the vehicle's place, threatening to break me in half. However, a few Marines, Francis, Louis, and even Bill started firing from the vehicle and got the Tank to charge at them.

"Get this thing moving," Bill shouted to the driver. "Tanks can't keep up worth shit!"

The engine started and then the vehicle began moving while the marines, Louis, Francis, and Bill began firing at the Tank that tried to catch them. The other marine came up to me and shouted for me to come with him and we ran towards another building. The Tank finally tore a chunk of ground out and threw it at the vehicle, hitting its side and causing it to spin out of control…off a ditch and into a long straight drop. I turned to the noise and I saw the vehicle spinning around then fly off into the ditch.

"NO," I shrieked and then I ran towards the ditch.

There was a loud explosion, I guess from the marine's grenade launcher that blew the Tank in half. I continued towards the ditch, not caring about anything else around me. Before I could even look down into the ditch…more like the cliff, there was an explosion that almost threw me off my feet. Before I could get back up, the marine grabbed me and told me to come back with him. I was practically dragged away from that ditch before running to a nearby safe house in a small building. Before we could even get to the building, a horde came. The marine told me to head for the safe house, and I did. I got there then turned back around to watch the marine get overwhelmed and screaming at me to shut the door…

…

"After a day I walked back outside and headed down into the ditch where the vehicle was still burning…there were mangled and charred bodies lying around along with broken glass and shards of metal." Everyone was quiet; the only sound was the sound of the hummer's engine. "I went into the forest and killed as many infected as I could before…well you guys found me…"

"Damn," Alan whispered to himself.

"We're sorry Zoey," Doc replied, his tone soft and gentle. Zoey nodded once, staring back down at the vest before turning to Jamie who remained silent. Finally, the survivor looked up to Zoey.

"I think they're alive," Jamie finally said. Everyone looked at Jamie, astonished looks and expressions all around. "They could've cleared the blast before the vehicle exploded, and all they would've needed was one marine to tell them how to get to the base: the same base that Williams is in charge of. Williams didn't want to send out anyone who wasn't immune, so he sent out Francis, Bill, and Louis with a four squads to make up for Bill's bad knee, and the fact that they were missing one. And then…well, who knows what happened after that. But the only bodies in that jeep were two military soldiers, so it couldn't have been Francis."

"That actually makes sense," Alan agreed.

"It's absolutely possible," Doc added. Maria tapped Zoey's shoulder, getting her attention. The black haired little girl nodded, agreeing with everyone else.

"I promise Zoey, if they're alive, we'll find them." Zoey smiled at Jamie then stared back at the vest again.

"Thank you guys," the brunette said, staring up with a cheerful smile on her face.


	14. Searching

Alan- auto shotgun

Doc- auto shotgun

Jamie- submachine gun

Zoey- dual pistols

--

The survivors had been cruising through the streets for almost ten minutes, finding no military vehicles, but plenty of zombies that were either ran over, door-checked, or just ignored. Alan leaned against his door, staring out into the dead city with a bored expression on his face. Doc looked ahead, choosing random streets to go down in hopes that they'd stumble upon something.

"Why the fuck is this city so fucking huge," Doc asked himself. "How many vehicles are we looking for again?"

"Williams said it was four squads right? So four squads equals four vehicles," Jamie replied. "We already found one, so we just need to find two more."

"Wrong again boss," Alan exclaimed, leaning forward. "We got something on the radar!" Everyone leaned forward, looking at a beeping dot on their radar. "Awe yeah baby! Half way there and we haven't even spent a day!"

"Where is that at," Doc questioned. Everyone looked to their right, which is where the dot was in accordance to their position on the radar.

"Evidently…somewhere in that parking garage…" The hummer slowed and all the survivors looked out the right side, seeing a multi-level parking garage. "Well, let's get going."

"You got it Jamie," Doc said as he pulled into the parking garage. "Odds are they probably headed for the top right, for better broadcasting signal and whatnot, so that's where we're going first." The hummer rolled through the empty parking garage before getting to the top. "Oh shit…"

"That's not at all fair," Jamie added. Ahead of them were dozens of parked cars, all with car alarms and in the center of the parking lot was the military vehicle turned on its side. "Alright, there's about eighty thousand car alarms between us and that jeep…tell me we've got melee weapons…" Maria started digging through the back, pulling out sections of the jeep that was designed for storage for anything that could be used as a blunt object. After a minute or two, Maria came back up and shook her head. "Fuck! We're so screwed…"

"Yo boss," Alan began, "I think I see some blunt objects we might be able to use." Jamie followed Alan's gaze and saw a crowbar, a two-by-four, and a random leather glove.

"That could work," Jamie replied. "Alan and Zoey come with me, Doc get the jeep moved so we can get the fuck out of here incase if one of those alarms goes off." Everyone shot a glare at Alan, who froze instantly.

"Dude, there are way too many cars for even me to want to fuck with…probably…" The three survivors got out and ran towards the makeshift melee weapons, Zoey being the only one with a fire arm; a pistol. Jamie picked up the crowbar and Alan picked up the two-by-four which had several nails and screws sticking out on one end. "Now this is some demented shit."

"I still don't get what's with the random glove," Jamie said, turning back to the black leather glove.

Zoey bent down and picked up the piece of leather, "Whoa, it's kind of heavy. Heavier than a glove should be." Jamie and Alan gave each other confused looks before turning back to Zoey. She put in on her left hand and balled up her fist a few times. "Holy shit, I think these are brass knuckles!"

"No fucking way," Jamie said with an astonished look on his face.

"Zoey I swear I will let you hold my RPG if you give me that glove," Alan quickly pleaded.

"Screw that, you have your demented piece of lumber. I'd much prefer brass." Alan grumbled in disappointment while Jamie and Zoey smirked and continued towards the jeep.

The survivors moved as quickly and cautiously as possible towards the jeep, keeping an eye out for any zombies that might pop out of nowhere. The survivors then made it to the jeep, still keeping an eye out. Jamie crawled up on the jeep while Zoey and Alan kept watch. Jamie reached for the door handle when suddenly a zombie's fist exploded through the window, throwing Jamie off the jeep and onto the ground. Zoey and Alan turned around as a zombie in a military uniform climbed out. Zoey took careful aim with her pistol then shot a bullet cleanly through the zombie's head. The infected gurgled then fell back into the jeep.

"You okay boss," Alan asked, turning his head slowly around the corner of the jeep.

"Peachy," Jamie lied in a groan. "Fucking zombies…" Jamie climbed back up on the jeep and opened the door, using his crowbar to keep the door open.

The survivor jumped down inside then began looking around. Aside from the now dead infected and broken glass, there wasn't much in the jeep. Jamie turned on his flashlight then began scanning inside of the jeep, not really finding much of anything. He moved to the back and looked around. Alan and Zoey were standing watch outside when suddenly, something landed between them: a red gallon of gas. The two survivors looked at each other before another gas tank landed between them, and another, and another, and one last tank of gas, making a small little pile.

"I take it he found gas," Zoey stated. Alan nodded in agreement.

Jamie continued looking around the jeep for anything important, opening the glove box, which contained nothing. The survivor then noticed a piece of paper under his foot then bent to pick it up. Jamie read then note then pocketed it before making his way out of the jeep. Alan carried three tanks of gas while Zoey carried the other two. Jamie groaned and cursed as he tried to get out of the jeep, a task that proved most difficult with the giant canister on his back.

"What the hell is that thing," Alan asked Jamie.

"Oh this? It's a larger canister of gas," Jamie answered. "Pretty sweet huh?" The survivor pulled his crowbar out from propping the door up, causing it to slam rather loudly. The thunderous slam set of a car alarm, which caused a chain reaction of the other car alarms, creating a deafening song of car alarms. "BULL SHIT!!"

"FUCK IT ALL," Alan shouted.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!"

The survivors then hauled ass towards the hummer, which was ready to go. Maria opened the back doors while Doc opened the passenger door. The survivors heard the cry of hundreds of zombies at once, causing them to run faster and faster. Zoey was the first one in the back, scooting Maria over to the other door. Alan got in the front passenger's door at the same time Jamie got in the back next to Zoey. The doors closed and Doc floored the gas down the ramp, heading down the parking complex. The horde of hundreds of zombies met the survivors on the second level, blocking their only exit. Doc quickly turned the hummer, throwing everyone inside the vehicle to the side.

"Buckle your seatbelts or die," the blonde doctor shouted.

Everyone quickly strapped themselves in, not knowing what to expect. The hummer flew forward, smashing through the small wall of concrete and flying off of the second floor. Everyone inside, except Doc, began screaming at the top of their lungs in fear as the hummer flew towards the ground. The large vehicle landed on its front two wheels, followed shortly by its rear wheels, causing it to shake violently and nearly threw the survivors around like ragdolls. Doc turned sharply, then went down the street as quickly as possible. The rest of the survivors were shocked, disoriented, and shaking with fear.

"Ho…ly…shit Doc…" Alan slowly uttered, turning his head towards the driver, who remained unchanged by his stunt. "Can we pull over? I've got to change my pants…"

"Ditto," Zoey said, trying to stop her shaking.

The survivors pulled over once they were safe, but not to change pants. They put the gas they acquired in the bottom flooring in the back, and Jamie put his crowbar in one of the side compartments for later usage.

"So was there only gas in the jeep," Alan asked before closing the back door.

"Nope, there was a note." Jamie pulled the wrinkled piece of paper out with some writing. "It said they took their radio to one of their safe houses nearby because evidently one of their guys was infected and they didn't want to hold out incase if one of those car alarms went off."

"Makes sense," Alan agreed. "Except how do they know about safe houses?"

"The safe houses were set up by CEDA and the military," Zoey replied. "They put guns, medical supplies, and ammunition in the safe houses so any survivors could be better equipped to survive."

"So…the military set up a safe house in that strip joint we went to a few days ago?" Jamie and Zoey shook their heads before moving back to the hummer.

"So we don't know where this safe house is though," Doc said, after Jamie told him what the note said.

"Well odds are they didn't get too far," Jamie replied. "So all we have to do is search the surrounding area to find any survivors, or their radio."

"Why do we need the radio whenever we're kicking gas in the ass," Alan asked.

"Better to have both options, just in case. Plus we're looking for any other clues to find Zoey's friends. So we could potentially find survivors and a radio, it's a win-win."

"Only if there are survivors and a radio," Alan muttered back. "Why do we need ALL of these radios anyway?"

"I asked one of the soldiers awhile back," Doc replied. "He said each radio separately is only short range, but with all of them together and a lot of wiring it can be long ranged if you're high up enough with little to no signal interference." Alan opened his mouth to speak; "He said the army uses those radios to place at evac points all around for the short range. The long range can only be achieved with creative rewiring."

"Can we do that creative rewiring," Alan questioned.

"Nope," Doc answered matter-of-factly.

"If anything we can use the radio we have to find the other one right?"

"Worth a shot," Jamie agreed, pulling the radio up from the flooring. "Good thinking Zoey." The survivor turned the radio on and turned a few knobs, then pressed the side button on the speaker. "Hello, is anyone out there? Is anyone alive?" Jamie released the button and the survivors heard a low whisper. They turned the volume up, words slowly becoming audible.

"Can't be too cautious," a voice muttered. "Zombies everywhere. They're trying to trick me! Yeah, they can talk, I've heard them speaking! Have to survive, can't trust anyone, can't trust anyone."

"Hello, who is this? Where are you?"

"Can't trust anyone…"

"We can help you," Jamie said, trying to talk sense to the crazy man. "We have weapons and supplies, you just have to tell us where you are."

"Zombies trying to trick me, but they won't get me." With a sigh, Jamie placed the radio down in his lap.

"Here, give me it," Alan said as he took the black box. "Yo, asshole! We're zombies and we're coming to get you, so why don't you just save us the trouble of searching for you and tell us where you're at unless you're just a pussy!"

"Can't trust them, zombie trick!"

"!"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ZOMBIE FILTH," the crazy man shouted into the radio, nearly blowing the whole speaker out. "I'm on Pasture Street! You'll see me as the one shooting you, you god damn animals!"

"Thank you, see you in a bit crazy man." Alan turned the radio off then turned it back to Jamie, who stared at his partner agape.

"It must take a crazy man to get through to another crazy man," Doc muttered under his breath. The survivors headed for Pasture Street, which turned out to be one big street with a small restaurant at the end of the road. "Where do you think the crazy guy is?"

"Come get me zombies!" Everyone turned to the restaurant at the end of the road. Doc put the hummer in reverse then backed away from sight of the restaurant.

"Plan of action," Doc asked, turning to Jamie.

"Working on it…"

"I say we shoot him," Alan said aloud. "The dude's obviously bat shit crazy. He might bite us if…" The survivors looked at one another, all thinking the same thing.

"Shit," they all said in unison.

"So now we're dealing with a crazy, and most likely infected individual. This is fucking great…" Several bullets flew down the street, in front of the survivors' view. "Correct: a crazy, and most likely infected individual WITH guns."

"Shoot em," Alan said, getting ready to jump out.

"We're not shooting him," Jamie snapped.

"He's infected," Alan replied. "What're we waiting for: him to become a zombie?"

"We don't know he's infected!" Suddenly, a hobo with greasy hair and a long beard came around the corner with a pistol in his left hand and a fully automatic assault rifle in the other hand. He turned to the survivors with a crazed look in his eyes and a pale complexion with blood coming from his ears and mouth.

"ZOMBIE BASTARDS!!"

"Duck," Jamie shouted.

The survivors did so as the hobo began firing at the vehicle. Thanks to the military, the windows were bullet proof and most of the metal was reinforced. Doc slammed on the breaks, launching the hummer forward. There was a muffled thumping noise along with some cracking and snapping as the hummer was slightly lifted off the ground. Doc stopped the hummer, eyes wide with astonishment. Everyone lifted their heads up at the same time and everyone slowly turned their heads towards Doc. There was a silence as Doc remained silent with wide eyes and shaking hands.

"Did you just…" Zoey began.

"Yep," Alan replied.

"To the-,"

"Uh huh," Doc answered Jamie. There was another prolonged silence before Alan simply shrugged then opened the door and jumped out.

"Whew, that boy got fucked UP!" Alan slammed the door then walked back to the street, then down towards the restaurant with his shotgun slung over his shoulder. Jamie and Zoey sighed to each other before getting out as well, followed shortly by Doc.

"Oh god," Jamie muttered, turning his head away from the mangled body that was once the crazy hobo.

Zoey covered her eyes and tried to walk past the body, completely blind. The others moved past and joined up with Alan who was standing in the doorway waiting on his team.

"Come on ladies, get a move on!" The survivors opened their eyes once they got past the corpse and headed into the restaurant and began searching. "Jesus there's a lot of food here!"

"Most of it has to be cooked though," Doc replied, picking up a piece of raw meat with disgust. "You think if I threw this the zombies would chase after it?"

"It's worth a shot," Zoey said with a laugh. "Those zombies don't seem to be much smarter than the average dog…or Alan."

"Hey," the bulky survivor snapped. "Wait, that crazy hobo had guns! I'm gonna go get them okay?"

"You're seriously grave robbing a hobo," Doc asked, lowering his arms with shock.

"At least I didn't run him over," Alan shot back with a smile before running back outside. Jamie and Zoey turned to Doc who remained quiet in his defeat. The three survivors continued to search through the restaurant in silence.

Alan grabbed the pistol that the hobo had, the assault rifle, and found a few, now bloody, clips on the corpse. Maria opened the back door once she saw him coming and allowed the bulky survivor to place the new weapons and few bits of ammo back. Alan nodded to Maria who moved away from the door before Alan pulled it down and closed it. The survivor walked back to head towards the restaurant before he noticed something next to the hobo's corpse.

Inside the restaurant, Jamie had stumbled upon tons of graffiti on the walls, sloppily written, most likely from the crazy hobo survivor. The writing seemed to mostly be about the time he spent hiding in the restaurant. As it turned out, the hobo usually loitered outside the restaurant and would often get some food from the owner of the place. Whenever the infection hit, the hobo apparently stole a police officer's assault rifle and pistol and hid out in the restaurant, which was conveniently closed that day. Jamie skipped most of the gibberish, not too interested in how he became crazy. Something interesting caught the survivor's eye as he placed his finger under the text and began reading it over.

'More people trying to take refuge here. Trying to impersonate the military, there's no military out here. Stabbed him to death, had to, no other choice.' Jamie winced with disgust, but had to continue. 'A few minutes later, three more came in. I shot at them and told them to leave. They tried to trick me, but I told them to leave. One of them said he would kill me, hahahahaha, I shot at him, hahahahaha. I didn't kill them, but they left all the same. One of them was injured and dropped his hat. Mine now old man! I can't take pity on them! I have to survive! Have to!' Jamie's eyes narrowed as he read the last few sentences over and over again.

"Yo, who wants a military beret," Alan's voice called out. "I didn't even know they made these anymore?" Jamie turned and walked quickly out of the kitchen out to the front door. Apparently Doc didn't care too much and Zoey was searching in the far corners of the restaurant. Alan put the beret on his head, adjusting it a bit. "What do you think boss? Too much?"

"Give me that," Jamie snapped as he swiped the hat off of Alan's head.

"You could've just said yes."

"Where'd you get this?"

"Grave robbing." Jamie walked towards the farther corners of the restaurant towards Zoey.

"Hey," Jamie called out. The brunette turned with a confused look at Jamie, who held the beret up to her. "This look familiar?" Zoey's mouth dropped open as she slowly took the beret from Jamie's hands.

"Where did you…?"

"Alan took it from the hobo." Zoey looked up, shock covering her face. "But, but, the but is important, I was reading what this guy was writing and he said he didn't kill them. He killed a military officer, but not any of your friends."

"Where did you read this," Zoey asked. Jamie moved his head back and ran towards the kitchen as Zoey followed closely.

"Found the radio," Doc cheered happily. Jamie and Zoey ran past him. "Or whatever, don't be happy…"

Jamie stopped in front of the wall of text and Zoey immediately started reading it. The brunette got to the part where the text talked about three survivors, placing her hand over her mouth in relief. Zoey turned to Jamie, then back to the wall, reading it again very carefully.

"They could still be alive," she said quietly. "They might be alive! Yes, holy shit yes!" Zoey began jumping with joy as Alan and Doc walked in.

"W, t, fuck," Alan asked.

"They might be alive," Zoey screamed as she ran towards Doc and Alan, throwing an arm around each of them. "Fuck yes!" Zoey turned around and looked into the sky. "Fuck you zombie apocalypse! You hear that?! FUCK YOU!" The cry of a horde could be heard from outside. "Whoops…sorry guys."

"Back to the hummer, now," Jamie shouted. The survivors ran to the door, seeing the hummer waiting outside of the door for them. Maria leaned out of the window and motioned for them to hurry. "Wait, is she really driving right now?!"

"Beggars can't be choosers," Doc screamed as passed Jamie.

The latter shrugged then headed for the hummer. Zoey got in the front while Doc, Jamie, and Alan squeezed into the back. Maria floored the gas, sending the jeep flying down the street before turning to the right. The survivors were now staring into a small, but still threatening horde of zombies.

"Fuck," Alan shouted. "Give me my gun!"

Maria slammed on the gas again, causing everyone to be pushed back into their seats. The little girl lowered her head, glaring angrily into the oncoming horde of angry zombies. Maria jerked the steering wheel to the side, throwing the rear end of the hummer smashing into several zombies before the large vehicle sped down another road while the zombies chased after them. The three guys in the back had been thrown out of their seats and struggled to get back in their seats.

"WITCH," Zoey shouted, pointing to the middle of the road where said infect sat, sobbing to herself.

"FUCK," the guys screamed before they could even look out of the windshield.

There was a sudden and repeated thumping noise along with a faint screech. Everyone looked at one another then to Maria and then in the back windshield where they saw a Witch angrily crawl after them with one arm as the rest of its limbs were useless. Everyone turned back to Maria who stayed focused on the road.

"Someone tell me when she became a NASCAR super star," Alan shouted with wonder in his tone.

"NASCAR," Doc repeated. "All they do is make left turns, I'd say she's more of a—WHOA SHIT!!"

A Boomer walked around the corner of the street, standing in the middle of the road now. Maria swerved the hummer onto the sidewalk and forcefully pushed her door out with her arm and leg. The door collided with the Boomer, which exploded on the door, covering the entire side of the hummer with bile. A horde of zombies flooded out of the buildings and began running towards the survivors. Maria slammed on the gas, flying towards the smallest number of zombies. The vehicle reached high speeds before it collided with the first wave of zombies, either smashing the infected or crushing them under the weight of the vehicle. Maria broke through the horde and sped off down the street, leaving the horde in the dust. After turning a few corners sharply, the little girl flopped back into the driver's seat and slowed down a bit. The rest of the survivors had been clutching something to the point where every knuckle in the vehicle was white as paper. All their eyes were wide as plates and focused on Maria who didn't pay any attention.

"Can we pull over," Doc asked sheepishly. "I have to change my pants…"

"Ditto," Zoey said, her tone weak and trembling with fear.


	15. Hotel

Alan- auto shotgun

Doc- auto shotgun

Jamie- submachine gun

Zoey- dual pistols

--

The survivors continued down the empty streets of the dead city they were in. Doc was now safely behind the wheel after Maria causing everyone to nearly die from heart attacks, and slowly cruised through the roads. Alan took a nap in the middle of the day, leaning back in the passenger's seat and snoring lightly. Maria was in the back, lying down with guns surrounding her, but still slept peacefully. Jamie looked out of his window, trying to see if there was anything useful that he or his team could use. Zoey hadn't stopped smiling after Maria's dangerous drive as she held onto Bill's beret, knowing that her old team could be alive somewhere in this city.

"Anyone else getting hungry," Doc asked, looking into the rear view mirror. "I'm fucking starving."

"Doc we've only spent like seven hours in this city. At this rate we might find the other two vehicles or Zoey's friends before nightfall."

"With our luck those two vehicles will either be like the last one, or in the hands of another crazy fucking hobo."

"Well I guess you can just run the next hobo over too," Jamie joked.

"As long as Maria takes care of the next Witch," Doc replied with a smile, turning his head back slightly. "Seriously, who taught her how to drive like that?"

"You're usually the one who drives Doc," Jamie pointed out. "Either that or too many violent movies. I thought it was crazy when she door checked the Boomer."

"Now that, scared me shitless," Zoey spoke up, coming out of her own thoughts. "Still, she managed to get us out of that whole mess alive."

"I doubt I could've done half of what that girl did," Doc admitted. "I'm just hoping we don't have to have her driving anymore. I don't think I could survive another one of those crash courses."

"You could've learned something from her Doc. I haven't seen driving like that since…hell I've never seen driving like that." The survivors smiled and turned back to their heads away, enjoying the small moment of peace they had. The moment was abrupt as they heard a beeping noise. All eyes glued onto the radar, which was giving off a signal a few meters in front of them. "Where would this be at?"

"A really, really big hotel," Doc answered grimly. The survivors looked forward, seeing a hotel that stood high above the survivors. "Well…shit…" Alan yawned and woke up, lying eyes on the hotel that towered above everything else.

"What the fuck are we doing here…?"

"We're getting a signal in there," Jamie replied. Alan sighed then looked down to the front door, seeing a load of leftover CEDA equipment.

"Ooh, now that looks interesting!" Alan quickly got out and rushed towards the tents and random CEDA supplies. The rest of the survivors, including Maria, got out and followed him. "Damn, this is mostly useless stuff! I didn't know CEDA agents were coke addicts." Doc picked up a syringe and examined it for a moment.

"Idiot, these are adrenaline shots."

"A-what now?"

"Basically you pull the cap off, inject it into yourself, and you have a rush of adrenaline."

"What's the point of that," Jamie asked.

"You could outrun a lot of shit while jacked up on pure adrenaline," Doc answered. Zoey and Alan nodded in understanding before looking at the rest of equipment.

"What the," Alan began. Jamie and Doc walked over, leaning over his shoulder.

"Is that," Zoey continued.

"A bottle of puke," Jamie finished with a disgusted look. Doc picked up the jar of green liquid which sloshed around from being moved.

"Correction: this is 'experimental Boomer excretion. Warning, will attract infected.' So basically it's a bile bomb…"

"Does it work," Jamie asked. Without waiting for an answer, Alan grabbed the bottle, shook it for a bit before hurling it on the roof of a small, nearby building. The jar exploded, releasing a cloud of green gas. The survivors waited for a moment and nothing happened. "I guess not…"

Suddenly, the sound of several windows being shattered was heard and all the survivors looked up. Zombies flooded out of windows in huge masses.

"These boys have never heard of the laws of gravity," Alan muttered.

"Find some cover," Jamie shouted as he saw a few zombies were coming dangerously close to falling on them.

Doc and Zoey ran for the front door, hiding under the overhead sign. Jamie and Maria hopped in the back of a nearby mail truck, hearing the loud thuds of zombies landing on the roof. Alan meanwhile just stood where he was, staring into space with his arms crossed, watching zombies falling from the sky. Alan took one huge step to the side as one zombie landed where he stood a moment before, hearing a sickening crunch along with an explosion of blood. Alan stepped forward, kicking the corpse then walking forward a bit.

"Today's forecast: cloudy with a chance of zombies," Alan said with a smug grin on his face. The survivors walked out of their covering, looking at the bodies which now littered the ground around them. "I guess that bile bomb really does work eh boss?"

"I guess so," Jamie agreed in shock as he looked up at the building. "Alright, it's going to be tight quarters in that hotel, so we need to be equipped for close to mid range."

"Obviously," Doc replied. "So what're we getting?"

"Well just in case we need to be ready for a quick getaway," Jamie stated. "Our luck doesn't seem to be allowing much for taking it easy. So, Doc, Alan, and Maria will stay and watch the hummer, Zoey and I will go into the hotel and look for any sign of the military."

"Awe come on boss! Why don't you take me anywhere anymore? You take Zoey with you everywhere now."

"That's because we need to find clues about Zoey's friends, so obviously she's coming. As for why I don't take you anywhere is because you're in love with that RPG, and it's going to get me killed one of these days."

"Why don't you take me anywhere Jamie," Doc asked.

"Because you're good in a panic situation, and you're the driver. And just in case something happens to you there's always Maria." The black haired little girl grinned happily to Doc and Alan. "See, she doesn't complain." Alan and Doc mumbled to themselves as the sulked back to the hummer with Maria following after them.

The two survivors moved to the back of the hummer. Jamie kept his submachine gun and grabbed the only magnum in their little armory, and grabbed a walky-talky with a beacon in it like the other radios, so to keep in contact with the others. Zoey grabbed a combat shotgun along with her dual pistols.

Jamie turned to Zoey, "You ready?"

"Ready," the brunette replied eagerly.

The two survivors ran towards the hotel, entering quickly. The two entered the main lobby, aiming their guns at opposite sides of the room with nothing in sight. They moved up, scanning the every corner carefully for any type of movement. The two walked down the halls and finally stood to where the hallway broke into four separate parts.

"Doc, how far are we from the radio," Jamie asked the walky-talky.

"According to this you should be right on top of it," Doc's voice answered back. Zoey and Jamie sighed in frustration, knowing all too well what that meant.

"We've got to sweep this place floor by floor," Jamie muttered to himself.

"Uh…Jamie…we got company…" The two survivors turned around to the front door, seeing the hummer speed off while a flock of zombies chased after them. "GO, GET TO SAFETY!"

"Shit," Jamie muttered, moving down the hall. A few zombies stopped and saw the survivors in the hotel and screamed. Soon, a few turned into an outright mob that rushed the hotel. "RUN ZOEY!" The brunette fired a few rounds into the horde before she followed Jamie down the hall.

The two ran up a flight of stairs, Jamie holstering his magnum and pulling out his submachine gun while Zoey did the same with her pistols before pulling out her shotgun. Two zombies flew up the stairs towards the survivors. The infected fell back whenever Jamie and Zoey shot them then continued up the stairs. The two infected were replaced by dozens more that screamed and chased after them. Jamie and Zoey got to the top of the stairs, running down the halls as fast as they could. The horde got to the top of the stairs as well and chased after the survivors who were a few good yards ahead. Jamie turned his body a bit, still running, and fired into the horde of zombies, killing a few and grazing others. The fleeing survivors got to the end of a hall, but luckily there was an elevator. Zoey quickly pressed the up button numerous times while Jamie backed up slowly, spraying into the endless horde of zombies.

Zoey spun around and began unloading shells into the zombies, just as Jamie had to reload his weapon. The zombies kept coming more and more with seemingly no end to the horde. Jamie began hosing down zombies again with his gun before Zoey had to reload after her final two shots. Jamie pulled out his magnum with his left hand and began blasting, bullets blazing through the zombies that never ended. Zoey finally reloaded her shotgun and began firing into the horde. The elevator bell dinged and the doors opened up. Jamie and Zoey moved into the elevator, still firing into the oncoming horde. Jamie quickly pressed the higher floor levels and the close door button. The doors finally closed and the elevator lifted up. Zoey and Jamie fell back sighing heavily with relief and taking a moment to catch their breath.

"Boss, come in boss and chick, do you copy," Alan's voice asked over the radio. Jamie grabbed the walky-talky and lifted it up to his mouth.

"What," Jamie sighed out.

"Jesus, I've been trying to reach you for like five minutes. Where have you been?"

"Alan, I swear if something doesn't hurt you soon I will," Jamie seethed. "I was running from that horde that was most likely your fault and I had to wait on a damn elevator."

"What happened to Zoey," Alan asked.

"She's still alive," Jamie answered.

"Well we're still being chased by our horde, and we're quite a ways away from that hotel now." Jamie and Zoey rolled their eyes. Alan's casual tone could fool anyone else, but they knew that he took everything too lightly. "So what's the plan?"

"Just lose or kill those bastards, then come and pick us up whenever is safest…"

"That sounds just peachy," Alan replied sarcastically. Suddenly, gunfire was heard in the speaker, "YEAH, EAT IT BITCHES! So I guess we're going with that plan. See ya whenever boss. Over and out."

Jamie placed the radio back on his waist, sighing heavily again. The elevator dinged again and the doors slid open slowly. Luckily there was nothing to great them. The two survivors pushed themselves up and walked out into the halls, readying their guns.

"Just our luck eh," Zoey finally said. "The one time we get ready for a speedy getaway and we get split up."

"That was my mistake," Jamie admitted. "I didn't see this one coming. We need to find all the stairways and block them off with something."

Jamie took point, wandering down random halls and finding one such door. The survivor opened it and peered through the door, seeing no infected. Zoey found a random pipe on the ground which she used to secure the door shut. The duo then wandered around other halls, sealing any and all entrances with whatever they could. After securing most of the exits, and getting a feel for the floor they were on, Zoey and Jamie relaxed a bit.

"So what do we do in the meantime," Zoey asked.

Jamie opened his mouth to speak before he heard two low growls. The two froze, listening carefully to the surrounding area. One of the side doors flew outward into pieces and a Spitter charged out into the open, flailing its arms at it came at the survivors. Zoey fired her pistols into the infected. The zombie fell on its side, writhing in pain as acid spilled from the bullet wounds. Suddenly, a Smoker's tongue flew out and grabbed Jamie, yanking him forward towards the Spitter. Zoey cursed under her breath then fired a few rounds at the Smoker. One bullet successfully whizzed through the Smoker's tongue, releasing Jamie dangerously close to the Spitter's body. Jamie hit the ground, some acid catching his shoulder. The survivor quickly pushed himself up and dove over the Spitter's writhing body and charged the Smoker. The lanky infected tried running away, but Jamie fired a round from his magnum into the Smoker. A cloud of smoke exploded out, filling parts of the hallway. Zoey headed towards Jamie once the acid died down. Jamie was looking at his shoulder where the acid got him.

"Shit, you're okay right?"

"Yeah," Jamie replied. "It barely even burned through my clothes." Zoey inspected his shoulder, and sure enough it was hardly even charred. "But I heard two growls. One of them was definitely the Smoker, but Spitter's don't growl right?" Suddenly, the two survivors heard the low growling of a Hunter.

"Shit," Zoey muttered as she crouched down. Jamie did the same, both survivors scanning the area around them.

Suddenly, the roar of the Hunter echoed throughout the halls as the hooded zombie flew out at Zoey. Jamie stumbled back as the flying zombie landed on Zoey with great force. The zombie lifted its arm to claw Zoey. Instead, the zombie got a massive hole through its hand. The Hunter screamed in pain, allowing Zoey a moment to roll the zombie off. The Hunter quickly flipped over and got ready to pounce again before another bullet shot ran through its head. The zombie fell on its side as blood flowed from its skull.

"You alright," Jamie asked as he approached Zoey.

"Yeah, never even touched me. That was a great shot by the way."

"Thanks, but I was actually aiming for its head." Zoey's eyes widened in alarm, causing Jamie to only laugh in response. "I'm kidding…I was aiming for the shoulder."

"Okay, from now on don't save me unless you're going to push a Hunter at least eight feet away from me." Jamie laughed before extending his hand to help Zoey. The brunette took his hand and was pulled up to her feet. "So what do we do now?"

"Get rid of these corpses and find some place to crash for now."

"Sounds doable," Zoey agreed. "Let's start with this guy." Jamie nodded and lifted the Hunter up by its wrists while Zoey got the legs. The two survivors walked awkwardly to the nearest, open window.

"On three," Jamie began. The two began swinging the body gently in rhythm as Jamie counted with each swing. On three, the survivors threw the Hunter out of the window, watching it fall and make a sickening splat on the ground below. "Now that's just nasty."

"I'm sure Alan would've loved to see that. Record it and put it on youtube and everything." Jamie laughed a bit before walking to the other infected corpses. "Hey," Zoey began as she stopped next to the Spitter corpse. "Wanna race to see who can throw the zombie out faster?"

"You're becoming more and more like Alan every day," Jamie said with narrow eyes of skepticism. The truth was, the clues Zoey had been finding about Bill, Francis, and Louis surviving had put her in high spirits, higher than they've been in a long time. "Alright, one, two, three GO!"

Zoey grabbed the Spitter's arms and began hauling ass while Jamie grabbed the Smoker's half torn tongue and ran with it slung over his shoulder. The thin, lanky corpse flopped around as Jamie and Zoey ran neck and neck with each other towards the window. Jamie grabbed the tongue with both hands then hurled the Smoker's corpse out the window a split second before Zoey let the Spitter droop out of the window. The two leaned their heads out, watching intently as the Smoker hit first with a nasty crack followed by the Spitter which made a nastier splat.

"That's bullshit, I was dragging a fat bitch around!"

"So, I wasn't a track start like you," Jamie fired back.

"That was only in high school!"

"I couldn't run to save my life."

"Funny, you did that just a minute ago when you were running away from those zombies," Zoey stated with a smirk on her face. Jamie wrinkled in nose as he glared teasingly at Zoey for a moment, before both of them burst out into laughter. After a moment, the duo found themselves a room to stay in. Zoey took Jamie's radio and turned it on.

"Hello, hello," Alan's voice came on with a rather cheerful tone.

"Hey, where are you guys," Zoey asked.

"Well we crashed near a gas station, got out, shot some zombies and now we're in a safe house. Doc said we're gonna leave you guys there.'

"Alan," Zoey said menacingly.

"Alright, alright, calm down. We found a safe house NEAR a gas station and the hummer is low on fuel, so we're gonna crash in the safe house then fill up the hummer and pick you guys up tomorrow morning." Zoey looked over at Jamie for a reaction.

"That's fine, it'll give us some time to look for the radio here."

"Ten-four rubber ducky," Zoey said into the radio, "Over and out."

"Hey rubber wha-," Zoey turned the radio off then tossed in on the bed. Jamie looked at the radio then lifted his head to give Zoey a confused look.

"What," she asked mockingly. Jamie raised his hands up and shook his head with a smirk on his face. "Yeah you better shut up."

"Oh look here," Jamie said, ignoring Zoey's comment. The brunette followed Jamie's gaze to a mini-bar, which Jamie lightly kicked. "You think they'd charge us for taking drinks out?"

"Maybe, but if worse comes to worse we can just shoot em right?" Jamie laughed before squatting down and pulling the small door open. Zoey walked up and looked over his shoulder, seeing tiny bottles on the shelves. "I didn't know you drank."

"I don't," Jamie replied quickly. "I just turned twenty two months ago. I just hear Alan ranting on and on about drinking. What about you?"

"Me, I've never drank before. I'm nineteen." Jamie pulled out a few bottles, examining them curiously. "You sure two first time drinkers should be drinking?"

"We're in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and we're stuck in this hotel, so why not?" Zoey shrugged, taking one of the small bottles and opening it carefully. She sniffed it a bit and cringed back with distaste. "Oh don't be a pussy." Jamie opened a bottle then swiftly took a drink. He immediately started coughing with tears building up in his eyes.

"Now look who's talking pussy," Zoey sniped.

"I don't see you drinking," Jamie shot back between coughs. Zoey looked at the bottle with reluctance then quickly shut her eyes and took a swig. The survivor started coughing just as furiously as Jamie. "See," Jamie said before busting out in laughter.

"You sure this is a good idea," Zoey asked. "I think you're just giving into peer pressure."

"What peer pressure? You're my only peer here. So if I were to be giving into peer pressure I'd be listening to you and not drink. So therefore-,"

"Yeah, just shut up and drink," Zoey cut off. The two survivors once again took a drink of the bottles then broke out in their fits of coughing.

The next morning, Jamie opened his eyes groggily before deciding to sit up. He looked over to his side and saw Zoey passed out on the floor with her mouth open and drool flowing out at a steady rate. Jamie lifted his brow up in a look of confusion before nudging her with his foot. Zoey groaned then slowly pushed herself up, equally as groggy as Jamie.

"Hung over?"

"No, just really disoriented," Zoey replied. "How much did we drink last night?" Jamie looked over, seeing every single miniature bottle stacked up neatly in a pyramid.

"I'd say we drank just about everything," Jamie answered with a laugh. The survivor then stretched his arms above his head, groaning as he did. "Fuck I hate the mornings."

"Ah, you're just a pussy." Jamie shot a look at Zoey as she got up and teasingly hit him in the chest.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Come on, you wanna throw down," Zoey asked, holding her fists up while she bounced around like a boxer. "Come on, show me what ya got. Bring it on big man!" Jamie just stared at her with a curious look before shaking his head.

"I hate morning people," Jamie sighed out. The survivor got out of bed and yawned. "Well let's start looking for that radio and hope it's up a few floors…" Zoey nodded in agreement as she and Jamie grabbed their guns and walked out into the halls.


	16. Code Names

Jamie- magnum, submachine gun

Zoey- combat shotgun, duals pistols

--

The duo walked down the halls of the hotel, rubbing their heads, trying to ebb the slight migraine they both share. It wasn't a full on hangover, more of a slight nuisance.

"Did you put roofies in the drinks," Jamie finally asked. "Cause I can't remember a damn thing that happened last night."

"What the hell are roofies," Zoey wondered.

"Oh right, you only watch horror movies, not comedies."

"I watch horror comedies…"

"Horror comedies," Jamie repeated bewilderedly. "Like what?"

"Uh…Scary Movie!" Jamie burst out into a fit of laughter. Zoey grinned at the appreciation of her joke.

"You're stupid," Jamie said as his laughter died down. Zoey gapped at him then slugged his shoulder. "OW! Fuck that hurt Zoey!" Said survivor turned her head with her nose sticking up in the air. "Oh you so did not take that seriously." Zoey remained silent, keeping her attention away from Jamie. "Zoooooooooey," Jamie said teasingly, nudging her with his elbow. The brunette couldn't help but crack a smile as Jamie did it again, "Zoooooooooooooey."

"Stop it," Zoey finally said, turning her attention to her partner. "You said I was stupid."

"Not stupid, stupid, like funny stupid."

"Like 'oh that's so awesome' type stupid?"

"That's the exact type of stupid you are." Zoey cracked a smile as she pulled her fist back, causing Jamie to step away with his hands raised in defense.

"Watch yourself big guy. I might have to kick your ass one of these days."

"Why would you kick my ass," Jamie asked. "Is it because of what I did?" Zoey looked down with a questioning look before looking up at Jamie.

"What did you do?"

"THIS!" Jamie put a hand on Zoey's shoulder then shoved her forcefully into one of the empty rooms. Zoey screamed as she flew into the room and fell on her side. Jamie laughed then ran down the hall.

"That's IT!" Zoey got up then chased after Jamie who had just turned around the corner.

With her track-star speed, Zoey quickly started catching up to Jamie who was surprisingly fast. However, he wasn't any faster than Zoey though. The brunette was now a step behind Jamie before she dove onto him, tackling him to the ground with a loud thud. Zoey quickly pulled Jamie's arm up on his back, causing him to scream with shock.

"Say uncle," Zoey ordered

"Fuck you," was Jamie's teasing response. Zoey pulled Jamie's arm further up his back. "You do know that won't bother me too much right?" Suddenly, Jamie's arm started moving higher up on its own then his hand tickled the hairs on the back of his head. Zoey screamed in alarm and unknowingly let go of Jamie's arm. The survivor quickly rolled over, throwing Zoey to the floor where he got on top of her now, pulling her arm behind her back. "Say auntie!"

"Fuck you," Zoey replied with a joking smile on her face.

"Well if that's what you want…"

"EW NO! Get off!" Jamie laughed then slowly got off of Zoey. The former sighed nonchalantly while Zoey sat up.

"That was fun…"

"Fun? I'll show ya fun!" Zoey dove at Jamie like a Hunter, but the latter grabbed Zoey's wrists and held her still. "Hey, no fair," Zoey protested as she pushed against Jamie's hold. Jamie grinned from ear to ear and chuckled strangely. "I think you're still kinda buzzed."

"I don't think I am," Jamie replied. "So therefore I'm not."

"Oh, getting all philosophical on me. I never really liked smart guys." The two survivors laughed again then smiled at each other.

After a moment, they both realized what they were doing and blushed as Jamie released Zoey. Both survivors were a bit red in the face, not sure what totally compelled them to act the way they did. Without a word they both stood up and then continued down the halls in silence. Zoey avoided looking at Jamie for fear of what he might be thinking right now. Was she seriously just flirting with him? Could all of that even be CONSIDERED flirting? Zoey shook her head slightly, trying to get the questions out of her head. She decided to risk looking in Jamie's direction. The survivor was also trying to avoid looking at Zoey, maybe for the same reason. Zoey looked away again, staring at the floor.

'_He was flirting back wasn't he? He started it didn't he? Yeah, he did when he shoved me…'_

Zoey shook her head again, trying to keep things clear. Surviving was going to be hard enough without worrying about Jamie liking her or not. Still, Zoey couldn't keep the thoughts out of her head as she glanced over at Jamie once more.

'_He couldn't like me. His league is probably girls like Michelle, with the pretty face, curvy body, huge boobs…'_

"Zoey," Jamie suddenly asked. The brunette was snapped out of her thoughts, making it very obvious as she nearly jumped in alarm. She noticed Jamie's face which was one of momentary confusion. "Sorry about shoving you…"

"Oh no, you're fine," Zoey assured. "Sorry for tackling you."

"Nah, it's okay. You didn't hurt me anyway." Zoey glared at Jamie who responded by laughing through his wide smile before nudging Zoey a bit. He held out his hand to her, "Truce?"

"Truce," she agreed, shaking his hand.

"Come in princess, this is rubber ducky, do you copy princess," Alan's voice called out over the radio. Jamie picked up the radio and held it to his mouth.

"This is night hawk, I read ya loud and clear rubber ducky." Alan laughed while Jamie and Zoey could hear Doc's remark about them having too much fun with this.

"We just woke up, grabbing some supplies before we rendezvous on your location do you copy?"

"Twenty-eight rubber ducky, princess and I are just looking for the radio on the upper floors."

"Twenty-eight," Alan asked. "What the hell is twenty-eight?

"Multiply ten-four by two. Now I know basic math is difficult for you rubber ducky."

"Fuck you night hawk, over." Jamie and Zoey both snickered to each other. "We'll be there in about twenty to thirty minutes so get ready."

"Roger that, but if we don't find it on the upper levels I'm gonna need you and blonde baby to sweep the lower floors do you copy?" Alan broke out into a fit of laughter over the radio, finding the blonde baby joke hysterical.

"Jamie, fuck off," Doc's voice then said clearly into the radio.

"Repeat, I don't copy blonde baby," Jamie replied with a grin on his face.

"Fuck off night hawk!" The radio turned off, allowing Jamie and Zoey to continue their search.

"How come I've got to be called princess," Zoey asked after a moment of silence. "You got to choose night hawk, for as gay as that is."

"Hey, it's not gay," Jamie defended. "I got to choose because nobody assigned a name to me. That's the rules."

"When was this established?"

"It's an unspoken rule. We have a lot of that in this group." Zoey gave a sharp stare at Jamie before looking ahead.

"What if I don't want to be princess," Zoey asked.

"Give Alan a better name," Jamie answered. "You gave him a name so he gave you one. It's like trading shit."

"That's stupid…"

"It seems to be bothering you pretty badly for something so stupid," Jamie pointed out. Zoey stuck her tongue out at Jamie then stayed quiet. "So…any interesting stories about your old team? No nicknames or anything stupid like that?"

"Well sort of…" Zoey smiled a bit before looking forward. "I told you Louis was always optimistic right?" Jamie nodded. "Well Francis was always pessimistic and they sort of argued a lot because of it. But then again…Francis argued with everyone. Anyway, Francis called Louis 'Mr. Sunshine' after awhile. Bill always called Francis an ass, so I guess Francis' nickname was 'ass.' We called Bill 'old man' or 'old timer' or something like that. For some reason Francis had an unhealthy obsession with Bill's beard…"

"That's a bit creepy," Jamie said slowly.

"But Bill did have a huge beard. It put Santa Claus to shame." Jamie suppressed his laughter and managed to muffle them into small chuckles. "Don't say it…"

"Okay," Jamie said with a weak voice. "Do you think we'll be on Santa's naught list for shooting all these zombies?" Zoey slowly turned her head, glaring daggers at Jamie who pressed his lips together in a tight line.

"I think we should play the 'no-talking' game…if you talk I'm going to punch you in the nuts." Jamie's eyes widened before he whipped his head forward with a genuinely scared look. Zoey's angered face suddenly turned into a warm smile as she bumped Jamie slightly with her hip. "I was joking moron."

"I'm not a moron," Jamie replied softly.

"If I'm stupid you're defiantly a moron," Zoey fired back.

"I didn't mean stupid, stupid, I meant-,"

"Yeah, yeah, save it moron."

"Don't make me push you again," Jamie warned. Zoey grinned up at Jamie and remained silent. The duo went up several floors and explored every hall and every room of the hotel before they finally made it to the roof. "Shit, I guess that radio is on the lower floors…"

"Bullshit," Zoey exclaimed. "Tell the others I guess."

"Oh shit, the radio is off," Jamie said before grabbing the radio from his waist and activating the handheld machine.

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS?!"

"Calm down Alan, we're on the roof," Jamie began. "The radio isn't on the-,"

"YEAH WE FUCKING KNOW THAT," Alan shouted. "We got the radio on the second floor, and we made it to the hummer safely, problem is there's a shit ton of zombies that ran into the hotel! We managed to hide in the hummer until they passed by but I think you two are gonna have a HELL of a welcoming committee!"

"Fuck," Jamie shouted as he put the radio back on his waist.

"Damn it, what do we do," Zoey asked, obviously shaken by what she was expecting. Jamie paced back and forth a few times before stopping. "What? Tell me you have an idea."

"I just might…come on!" Jamie ran back down the stairs, back onto the first floor they could get to. "This is probably gonna be extremely scary and suicidal, but I think we might be able to-," The cry of a few dozen zombies cut Jamie off. The two survivors turned to the horde which seemed to multiply the further they got. "FUCK! Come on!" Jamie ran into the nearest room with large windows leading to a small porch. Zoey started firing at the zombies as Jamie pulled the bed sheets off, grabbing one side of it. "Here, grab this side!" Zoey looked at Jamie oddly, but decided against asking questions and grabbed the sheet. "Follow me!" Jamie ran towards the porch and Zoey followed, not getting the plan until they set foot on the porch. "Grab hold of-," they jumped off the porch and off the building, "ME!"

The survivors held on tightly to the sheet and began falling quickly towards the ground while screaming at the top of their lungs. A few zombies dove after them, falling much faster towards the ground and hitting with a splat. Zoey quickly flung her legs at Jamie, moving far enough to wrap her legs around his waist as they both pulled the sheet closer together. The bed sheet was now as good as a parachute, slowing their rapid plunge into a gentle fall. Zoey and Jamie both looked down and started laughing with shock. They weren't dead, or falling rapidly towards their death. They both looked at each other with astonished and relieved looks on their face.

"Holy shit," Zoey shouted. "How the fuck did you think of this?!"

"Rush Hour 3," Jamie replied honestly. The survivor looked up, still seeing zombies hurling themselves off the building to try and get the survivors. "These guys need to learn the concept of gravity."

"I can't believe you took this idea from a Jackie Chan movie," Zoey said, shaking with fear, adrenaline and relief. "You are seriously the smartest, craziest, ballziest, person I know!"

"Thanks," Jamie responded, his voice still trembling.

After another moment or two the two were mere feet from the ground. Jamie's feet were the first to hit the ground gently. Jamie placed his hands on Zoey's back, holding her up while she unwrapped her legs from Jamie's waist, blushing a bit even though it HAD been to save their lives. Zoey looked up to thank Jamie and their eyes met for a moment. But only a moment as a car horn honking snapped them to attention. They looked over, seeing Doc behind the steering wheel while Maria and Alan leaned out of different windows, but all of them had the same taunting smile on their faces.

"Hey we can come back if ya want. Or give you a reservation for a one bed room in that hotel if ya want."

"Shut up Alan," Jamie snapped, blushing as he released Zoey. The bulky survivor grinned as he and Maria moved back into the hummer. "Uh…come on," Jamie finally said softly. Zoey nodded then followed him to the hummer. Whenever everyone was in, the hummer shot down the street.

"I gotta admit boss," Alan said, turning around to the back seats. "That was probably the stupidest, most impressive thing you've ever done. Even better than when you went Jockey on that Tank."

"Speaking of Jockeys," Doc said, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. Alan turned back to the front of the vehicle, seeing a Jockey mindlessly running at their hummer.

"Oh, speed up dude, speed up!" Doc did so, the hummer roaring as it went faster then eventually made a smooth bump over the Jockey's small body. Alan and Doc both laughed evilly, slapping the other's hand.

Maria popped up from the back seats and hugged both Jamie and Zoey who smiled in response. "Hey," Jamie said, trying to hug back with one arm. "Did you miss us?" Maria rolled her eyes then made a series of hang gestures towards Doc and Alan. "On that's not good…"

"What," Zoey asked. "Did Doc and Alan fight like always?"

"No, they were getting along," Jamie replied. "Which can sometimes have scary results. Like just now when they ran over the Jockey, but stupider."

"Oh I think we've had enough stupid for one day," Zoey snapped. "We've just got to find one more radio right?"

"That's right princess," Alan replied with a huge grin on his face. "Then the military can send in the fucking cavalry!" Everyone smiled as their hopes skyrocketed.

"Well let's hurry the fuck up already! I've had enough of this apocalypse to last a lifetime."

"You got it Jamie," Doc said before pressing down on the gas, flying down the road.


	17. Almost theeeeeeeeere

Alan- N/A

Doc- N/A

Jamie- N/A

Zoey- N/A

--

"Dude, you're stupid," Alan told Jamie, turning his head. "Superman could totally beat down Batman."

"Bullshit," was Jamie's simple reply. "He carries kryptonite with him at all times in his utility belt."

"Dude, you're wrong I'm right, shut up."

"How about both of you shut up," Doc suggested through his teeth. Jamie and Alan both relaxed in their seats and stayed quiet. It had been several hours since they found the last radio in the hotel, and the survivors had been wandering around aimlessly practically until nightfall. "WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT OTHER RADIO!?" Doc punched the dashboard, immediately pulling his hand back. "DAMN THAT HURT!!"

"Calm down Doc," Jamie said, trying to hold back his laughter. "You're throwing a hissy fit for no reason."

"Yeah, you're starting to worry me a bit," Alan added as he extended his arm to his friend.

"Don't touch me," Doc warned. Alan quickly withdrew his arm. "I just want to find that last radio and get this whole mission over with. We found three of them in like twenty four hours, so why is it taking us six damn hours to find ONE freaking radio!?"

"Who knows," Jamie answered, leaning back in his seat. "I've got a good feeling that we'll find it sometime soon guys."

"This is gonna be great," Alan exclaimed. "Not only are we survivors of the zombie apocalypse, but we're gonna be fucking heroes too! Who would've thought!?" Zoey smiled up at Alan with her arms crossed then nudged Jamie's side.

"What's up," Jamie asked quietly as he turned to Zoey.

"I think there's a lot of people who would care if you died now." Jamie gave Zoey a blank stare. "You don't remember when you said that?" Jamie shook his head in response. Zoey sighed and straightened her back in the seat. "We were in the library, Alan and Doc left, Maria was asleep…" Jamie continued giving a blank stare. "I just relocated your shoulder…you were telling me about all the times you saved these guys…" Zoey eventually sighed with frustration as she gave up.

"Yeah I remember," Jamie replied with a smile in his tone. "I was just messing with you." Zoey turned and punched Jamie in his arm. "OW," Jamie exclaimed while laughing uncontrollably. "I still don't think enough people would miss me."

"Oh shut up," Zoey snapped, crossing her arms as she turned away angrily.

"You can't take jokes nowadays can you," Jamie muttered, rubbing his arm a bit.

"Don't worry Zoey, they get like this when they're bored. They feel they have to annoy other people…"

"I can tell," Zoey replied without looking away from the window. "I wish the radio still worked…"

"For a sing along," Alan asked, turning his head around. "We can do that can't we Jamie?"

"Not unless you get me drunk, and last time I did that I didn't remember what happened."

"Well pull over at the nearest liquor store so we can get Jamie wasted," Alan told Doc. The blonde gave Alan the finger and continued driving. "Seriously I'm getting bored. Can we pull over so I can wreck something?"

"I'm gonna wreck your face if you don't shut up," Doc warned.

"Doc, everyone in this vehicle knows that you don't got the balls." Doc promptly slammed on the breaks, causing Alan to heave forward, smacking his face on the dash with a loud smack. "AWE FUCK!!" The hummer then slowly started to roll forward again. Everyone's eyes were wide with shock, wondering what Alan would do as he glared angrily at Doc.

"Should've wore your seatbelt," was all Doc muttered. Alan continued glaring for a moment before breaking out into a fit of laughter.

"Dude, that was fucking funny I gotta admit!" Alan then pulled his seatbelt over his chest and clicked it securely. "Damn I must be getting on your nerves."

"No shit," Doc murmured. "Where the fuck would the military go to set up a radio signal…"

"Well…with the rest of the radios being in down and relatively close to one another, maybe they tried to leave town?" Everyone turned at a menacingly slow pace to give Jamie the angriest, and scariest stare he'd ever seen in his life. "But I mean hey, what the hell do I know?" Jamie said with a fearful tone. "Don't listen, I'm just being crazy over here." Everyone turned back around, staring out into the city. "I'm thinking three radios should be enough right?"

"Oh no…"

"Thanks Doc," Jamie snapped with annoyance.

"No not that. We're low on gas…" Everyone leaned forward, staring over Doc's shoulder with a hopeful look that the blonde was lying. Sure enough, he wasn't.

"Oh fucking hell," Alan muttered. "What do we do?" Doc stopped the hummer and looked around quickly for anything useful. "Why don't we just use some of the gas we salvaged?"

"Because the military might need it," Jamie replied.

"Well if we don't get some fucking gas we're walking to the military. I'd much rather have gas in our tank and get to the fucking military."

"Well think about it," Doc interjected. "The military surely has to have a little more gas to spare. All we'd need to get to the base would be a gallon at most. We just use one tank, give them the rest of the gas and the radios and see what Williams thinks we can do." Alan and Jamie looked at each other with convinced looks and shrugged. "Military base?"

"Yep," Jamie said before he opened the door and got out with Alan. The two opened the back door where Maria slept soundly, surrounded by guns. "Has she been sleeping the whole time?"

"That kid is like a fucking rock," Alan replied as he lifted up a gallon of gas. "Just one right Doc?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied with a rushed wave. Alan unscrewed the cap as Jamie opened the gas canister. The bulky survivor began pouring the gas into the hummer, whistling casually as he did.

"Is it weird that we haven't encountered many zombies lately," Jamie asked. Alan shrugged in response, looking around the dead city. "Seriously it's like they all just left…I don't like it."

"You're thinking too much," Alan said as the last of the liquid poured into the hummer. The survivor pulled the tank back and threw it aside. "We're just about out hellhole and if something happens to screw it up I'm saying you jinxed us!" Jamie rolled his eyes then headed back to the hummer. The two got in as Doc rolled the hummer towards the forest off in the distance, heading back to the military base.

The ride this time was quieter and less chaotic. The first time they headed to the military base the survivors were being chased by a wave of zombies and Jamie was unconscious, but this time the survivors were optimistic, feeling that this whole nightmare was going to come to an end very soon. Maria woke up, leaning over the seat between Zoey and Jamie. The little girl climbed over the seat and sat between the two, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer, take one down, break it over a zombie's head, ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall." Everyone turned to Alan who was quietly singing to himself. "I'll stop…" The survivors turned away in silence.

"Ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall, ninety eight bottles of beer," Zoey continued. "Take one down, throw it at a Witch, and run like hell."

"Ninety seven bottles of beer on the wall, ninety seven bottles of beer," Doc started, trying to suppress the smile on his face. "Take one down, light it up, then you've got a Molotov."

"Ninety six bottles of beer on the wall, ninety six bottles of beer, break one in half, shank a zombie with it, ninety five bottles of beer on the wall."

"So we're thinking of ninety nine ways of how to use beer in the zombie apocalypse? God I love you guys!"

"Meh, you're not so bad yourself," Doc replied, gently punching Alan's shoulder. "But shit your guys' immaturity rubs off on me like a mother fucker."

"Come on Doc, you know you couldn't live without us," Jamie teased. "Literally and figuratively."

"You're probably right. Shit, at least my life has more excitement than it did before. The most exciting thing I did was sanitize hands. Ooh, fucking sweet."

"Oh come on Doc, surely you could've gotten yourself shit deep in something bad right?" Doc shrugged at Alan's question.

"Come on," Zoey urged. "Tell us something." Doc sighed, looking longingly out the window.

"I got into a fist fight with this one guy…almost killed him."

"There ya go," Alan exclaimed, slapping Doc on the back of the shoulder. "So what happened? He call you a pussy or something?" Doc shook his head and sighed again.

"He…my fiancé cheated on me with him…" Everyone went silent. That wasn't something they were expecting. "We lived together in an apartment for four years, college sweethearts. I came home one day and found them…well, doing the nasty. I don't remember much except our neighbor pulling me off the guy and her crying. I looked down and saw the guy bleeding from every part of his face and that's when I felt the few hits I guess he got on me. Needless to say her crying for that guy made it obvious that she loved him and not me, so I broke it off for her. Then a few months later I get called in to examine zombies and well…" Doc sighed heavily through his mouth, staring into empty space.

"Damn," Alan muttered. "I'm sorry man." Doc smiled a bit as Alan placed his heavy hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"It's fine. You guys are a good anesthetic. Hell, you guys are a kick ass anesthetic."

"Damn though Doc, I never thought you could've beaten someone so badly to shit."

"Just because I'm not a cage fighter doesn't mean I can't kick some ass, and you all know I've got a temper problem."

"True," Jamie replied with a grin on his face.

"You think you got a temper problem? You should've seen this one guy in the cage; Austin Cooper. He wasn't that big of a guy, but FUCK he was MEAN! That mother fucker nearly wiped the floor with me."

"Nearly wipe the floor with you," Jamie repeated. "He mopped the floor with your sorry ass."

"Yeah, but I still got a few good hits on him. That was nothing compared to what your brother did." Alan quickly gasped, smacking his hand over his mouth, eyes wide with fear.

Doc looked in the rearview mirror for Jamie's reaction. The unspoken leader had his eyes wide with rage and his face was turning red as his breathing became very heavy. Alan looked forward, hoping that if he didn't see Jamie he and his rage would disappear. It didn't though and Jamie just continued boring through the back of Alan's head. The rest of the team stayed quiet, watching Jamie out of their peripherals.

"Stop the car Doc," Jamie seethed. The blonde did so, never seeing Jamie this angry before even when he was killing zombies. Jamie got out quickly and slammed the door shut behind him. "Get out of the car Alan."

"Fuck," Alan weakly muttered. "It's been fun guys…" Alan got out and walked up to Jamie who walked deeper into the forest. The two moved several yards away until they were out of earshot of the hummer. "Jamie I'm so sorry it just slipped and-," Jamie turned around, throwing his fist into Alan's face. The bulky survivor dropped to the ground, groaning in pain. "Alright, I deserved that."

"Go," Jamie snapped. Alan got up and quickly walked back to the hummer, holding his surely to be swelled jaw. The rest of the team was shocked as Alan came back, they saw Jamie slug his partner across the face.

"He's kinda pissed," Alan stated once he stood across from the team. "I say we get an army of zombies for him to take his rage out on."

"What the fuck is his problem," Doc asked, crossing his arms angrily. The three survivors looked at the blonde with confused looks.

"Doc, that's his brother…"

"Yeah, but I just told you guys about my fiancé and I didn't have to punch anyone."

"But that was you who told us," Zoey replied. "Jamie would've told us when he was ready."

"Plus you have no idea how close these two were," Alan added. "Jamie and Ed were inseparable and they were always there for each other."

"Like most siblings," Doc snapped. "What's so special about his?" Maria pulled her leg back and kicked Doc in the ankle, causing the blonde to yelp with pain. "OW, god damn it Maria!"

"Your attitude isn't helping anything Doc," Zoey told him. "Jamie just needs time to cool off okay?" Doc sighed, groaning as he rubbed his ankle before turning to his partner in the distance.

"Yeah okay," Doc breathed out. "At least he didn't do to Alan what I did to the bastard who took my fiancé…"

"Thank god too," Alan added. "That kid's got a hell of a right cross…"

The survivors waited and paced as time went by slowly. Doc turned off the hummer to conserve gas while they waited. What seemed to be nearly an hour in reality was only about twenty minutes, and Jamie hadn't moved from his spot next to a tree with his back turned to the rest of his team.

"What the hell is he thinking about," Doc finally asked as he leaned out of the hummer window. "He's just been standing there. He might grow roots sooner or later."

"Like I said: army of zombies for him to punch," Alan replied.

"Shut up Alan…"

"Maybe someone should go talk to him," Zoey wondered.

"I'm not going back, and Doc is obviously less than sensitive on this issue." Doc gave Alan the finger in response.

"I'll go," Zoey offered as she walked into the forest before anyone else could protest.

As she advanced, Zoey wondered how she would calm Jamie down. Yes she volunteered for this, but the only reason she did was because Jamie couldn't hit a girl. Right? She had no idea of how to go about it. Usually it was Jamie talking someone else down, and recently it had been Zoey. Now the tables were turned, and who know how this could go. Jamie peered over his shoulder to see who was coming up behind him, then turned his head back away.

"What," Jamie grunted out. Zoey stopped, gapping like an idiot as she tried to think of something to say. "What?"

"I-I wanna talk…"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You could start by telling me about your brother…" Jamie snorted and shook his head. "Jamie we've all lost somebody, but the only way you could justify yourself is if you tell me about Ed…" Zoey was surprised with herself, but didn't let it show. Jamie sighed heavily, but didn't turn around.

"Ed was probably one of the only people who cared about me. My father left me, my mom moved to Colorado because her new boyfriend had to move there because of his job, but Ed was always there for me. He seemed to be the only one around who constantly cared about me."

"Didn't you have any friends," Zoey asked gently.

"No," Jamie replied bluntly. "Everyone either hated me because I thought they were assholes or didn't understand me. Aside from Michelle and Ed nobody knew about me."

"But your mom and your uncle had to care right?"

"Yeah they cared, but my uncle is a drifter and my mom was head over heels in love with her boyfriend and she didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with him. I didn't want to be the needy snot-nosed little brat that needed his mommy to stay with him, so I let her go to Colorado. The few friends I did manage to make came and went, and I even managed to screw up my friendship with Michelle." Zoey pulled her head back with a shocked look. Jamie cursed himself for bringing it up now, but continued on. "I finally asked her out, but she said it would be best just to stay friends. But over time she started talking to me and hanging out with me less and less until we practically stop talking. The only one that I didn't lose or push away was Ed, but he…" Jamie's hand balled into a fist against the tree. "He had friends, a job, and people who cared about him, and because of that I tried to be like him, but he gave his life to save me. Me, the stupid kid that nobody knew let alone cared about!" Jamie's fist tightened and his jaw tensed up in anger and sadness. "I thought I could be just as cool or popular or important as my brother if I tried acting like him. It didn't work. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't be like my brother! That's why I told you that nobody would miss me if I died because the only one who cared about me threw his life away!"

Zoey now understood a lot more about her new teammate. The reason he kept throwing himself in harm's way to save his friends is because of his brother's sacrifice. Whether he knew it or not Jamie kept throwing himself in danger because he still tried to act like his brother. Zoey walked up and placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder. He didn't move, but made no sign of acknowledgement.

"Jamie…I'm sorry that you lost your brother, and we all know it's painful for you. But you have to stop trying to act like him and you've got to stop blaming yourself."

"I don't blame myself for his death! I'm fucking pissed at him for making that stupid choice!"

"He gave his life for you because he wanted you to survive, because you were his brother and he would've done anything for you." Jamie's jaw clenched tighter in anguish of Zoey's truthful statement. "And there are still people who care about you. Williams, all those survivors at the military base, Michelle, your mother, your uncle, Doc, Alan, Maria…me, we care about you and we all need you. Without you we couldn't have gotten half as far as we could have." Jamie started to calm down slowly, easing his tensed body. "A bunch more lives have placed their hopes on us and we can't afford to give up now. And if it wasn't for you I would've been a zombie's lunch a long time ago. If it weren't for you I'd be in a blind rage and I never even considered the possibility that Bill, Francis, or Louis could've survived."

Jamie sighed then fell to his knees, the weight of his anger and sadness finally pulling him down. Zoey quickly got on her knees next to him, placing a hand on his back. Tears fell from his eyes and a look of emptiness filled Jamie's eyes, which worried Zoey a bit. After a few moments Jamie turned to Zoey, a glimmer of life sparking into his eyes. The two stared at one another for a moment before Jamie straightened up a bit.

"Thanks…Zoey…"

"No problem," Zoey replied gently with a warm smile. "We've had like eight of these talks for me right?" Jamie chuckled a bit with a smirk on his face. "You okay?"

"I think so…"

"Well come on and get happy! I'm not having my leader be some depressed emo bastard all day!" Jamie grinned slightly, laughing a bit more. Zoey grinned brightly then placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Glad to have you back." The two stood up then walked back over towards the rest of the survivors. Alan stood behind Doc and Maria, who paid him no mind.

"How ya feeling," Doc asked.

"Better," Jamie sighed out. "I'm not going to hit Alan anytime soon unless he does something stupid."

"Dude I always do something stupid," Alan shot back. "So you're obviously gonna hit me!" Jamie shook his head and laughed before walking up and getting in the front passenger's door of the hummer. The rest of the survivors filed in one by one and the hummer roared to life.

"Military base, and step on it!"

"You got it," Doc shouted as he floored the gas pedal. The hummer shot forward down the dirt trail. The survivors were silent, but things weren't awkward or tense. "You sure you're good Jamie?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just…thinking…"

"About how he's gonna kill me," Alan muttered. Jamie smirked then shook his head before looking forward.

"What the…" Doc leaned forward as they rolled through a cloud of smoke.

The survivors looked out the windows with confusion. Finally, the survivors got into a bit of a clearing, seeing a flaming tower. The further they got, the clearer things became before they noticed they arrived at the military base…

"WHAT THE FUCKING PISS?!" Alan looked around frantically.

The hummer rolled into the center of the military base and stopped. The survivors scanned the area, seeing destroyed chunks of building, blood, brass, and all types of gore.

"Get the guns," Jamie ordered. Maria quickly jumped in the back and began handing guns to the rest of the team. As soon as Zoey grabbed a hold of a sniper rifle, a horde of zombies came running out of the smoke, forestry, and totaled buildings. "HURRY!!"

Zoey opened her door and began firing, since there were so many aiming seemed kind of stupid. Maria frantically handed out whatever gun she could grab, handing Alan a combat shotgun, Doc a combat rifle, and Jamie an assault rifle. The survivors either rolled their windows down or opened their doors and fired madly at the zombies that swarmed them. Alan hopped out and tried to gain ground by advancing slowly and gunning down zombies. Jamie got out too, covering his partner.

"There's too many boss," Alan shouted over the gunshots and the screaming.

"Zoey, Doc, I need you to get some of these bastards away from us!" The two survivors hopped out, shooting into the zombies before running to the main building, firing into the sea of zombies. A large number of the zombies followed after the two survivors, dividing the horde into a less insane number.

A few zombies tried to break into the back of the hummer where Maria was hiding. The little girl screamed before firing a pistol through a zombie, killing it instantly. The little girl then kicked the door open, knocking the first wave of zombies back into other zombies. The little girl had a submachine gun and hosed down the zombies trying to get at her. Jamie and Alan moved to the back of the hummer to better cover their fellow survivor. Jamie stood to Maria's left while Alan moved to the right, blasting into the wall of zombies that kept advancing.

Zoey and Doc flew around the corner of a hall then turned around to fire into the horde of zombies, taking out a little over a dozen of them. The survivors then hauled ass further down the hall as the zombies kept following them. Zoey turned her head, seeing the zombies pursuing. Something caught the survivor's eye, causing her to stop and turn around, shouldering the sniper slowly. Doc stopped a few feet away from Zoey.

"What're you doing Zoey?!" The brunette ignored Doc, aiming at the red extinguisher on the wall. With a signal shot, Zoey hit the fire extinguisher that exploded, blowing a few zombies in half and causing an already half destroyed wall to collapse on the horde. Zoey sighed and lowered her weapon then smiled. "Damn girl…" Suddenly, more zombies came climbing over the rubble. "RUN!" The duo then continued to flee into the military base.

A long, pinkish appendage shot through the horde and wrapped around Maria's small body then threatened to pull her forward. The girl screamed briefly before Jamie grabbed the tongue with one hand, pulling out his combat knife with the other. In one swift, downward motion, Jamie sliced through the tongue, freeing Maria from the Smoker's grasp.

"Suck it you blood drooling fuckers!" Alan hurled something down into the forest, over the zombies' heads. The canister exploded in a cloud of green gas. Suddenly, the zombies turned around, stampeding towards the cloud of green. "Yeah you stupid bastards!" Alan moved to the hummer and pulled out a grenade launcher. "It's gonna be raining zombies!" Alan squeezed the trigger. A grenade arched towards the center of the horde and exploded, blowing the first few groups into a red mist, while the rest were blown in halves or chunks. "WHOO!" Alan screamed as he pulled the empty shell out of the barrel and slammed a fresh grenade in. "That was cool!"

"Where the hell did you get a new bile bomb," Jamie asked.

"There was like four of them once we explored a bit before going for the radio," Alan replied. The bulky survivor turned to Maria who just finished unwrapping the Smoker tongue from her body. "And damn, for a little girl who doesn't like guns you sure as shit know how to kill zombies!" Alan held his hand up and Maria grinned then slapped her hand against his. Jamie smiled before turning back at the base, hearing faint gunfire. "They'll be fine buddy." Jamie nodded, fighting the instinct to run after Zoey and Doc.

The other two survivors had their backs against a wall, firing into the now thinned horde of zombies. Zoey fired a bullet, tearing through a row of zombies, dropping four at once. Doc fired a three round burst, blowing the final zombie's head off. The survivors froze for a moment before they were absolutely sure everything was dead.

"Let's head back," Doc whispered. Zoey nodded then followed the doctor back to the rest of the team. They headed through destroyed buildings, taking in just how bad things really were. Whenever they got back to Jamie, Alan, and Maria, they saw that they too had killed the rest of the zombies. "Someone tell me WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!!"

"We got swarmed by zombies," Alan replied obviously. Doc groaned, slapping his hand to his face.

"They came a day after you left," a new voice told them. The survivors all snapped their weapons over to where the sound came from, seeing a bloody Sergeant Williams limping over to them with a shining magnum in his hand. His skin turned pale and his hair began thinning, blood coming from his eyes and ears. He was infected. The survivors kept their weapons on Williams, not taking any chances. "You left and then an army of those fucking things came. My men fought back as best as we could, but the survivors panicked, grabbing guns from the armory, the dead and began shooting everything that moved which made things worse."

"So everyone's dead," Jamie asked, lowering his gun slightly.

"I'm not sure," Williams answered, groaning as he held the bite on the side of his body. "A lot of them ran for it, escaping the base on the other side of the wall. I don't know if they've lived this long or not…" Williams screamed in agony as the infection spread through his body, coursing through his veins. "I…I'm sorry that I had no way to tell you all…" Williams looked up at the survivors who had all slightly lowered their weapons, staring at the sergeant with sympathy. "I take it that if you came back that you were successful in your mission…" The survivors nodded. "The fuel, radios, whatever you got is yours to do with as you see fit. Thank you all for risking your lives for us…" Williams raised his magnum to his head.

"Wait," Zoey screamed as Jamie and Alan covered Maria's eyes. Williams stopped, staring at the girl. "Were there other survivors who came here before us? Three men named Bill, Francis, and Louis?" Williams gave a confused look at Zoey.

"Yes…I sent them out with my squads because they wanted to look for their teammate who they lost before coming here…it's you isn't it?" Zoey nodded, slightly relieved to know that her friends came through here. "They came back on foot, bloodied and looking like they'd been through hell and back. It was at night so nobody knew that they came back. They searched the entire city for you and said that my squad was dead. They said the squads decided to split up to try and spread out the broadcasting range and that they didn't know how to find the radios. They said they wanted a jeep so they could try and find some type of military group outside of the city. I let them have it…they thought you were dead girl."

"So why the hell didn't you give them that radar thing," Alan asked.

"We didn't have it built," Williams answered. The sergeant screamed again, writhing around a bit in pain. "Th-they went towards the south! Trying to find a better equipped outpost to send back to get us! I'm not sure if you'll catch them or how far they made it!"

"I understand," Zoey replied. "Thank you Williams…" The sergeant nodded then raised his magnum to his jaw.

Alan and Jamie covered Maria's eyes and ears while everyone else turned away. A loud bang echoed throughout the forest as Williams fell to the dirt with one third of his head gone. The survivors turned towards their hummer in silence, grabbing the gas tanks to fill up their vehicle. After a few minutes of filling, the survivors got in and cruised down the road in silence. They got onto a freeway, driving for nearly an hour in pure silence.

"You know…" Alan quietly said. "Williams wasn't that bad of a guy…" Doc nodded in agreement. Zoey turned to Jamie who was staring out of the window longingly. Alan looked up in the rear view mirror, as did Doc, noticing Jamie's expression too. "I'm sure she made it out bro…" Jamie shook his head, staring back at his team.

"Huh," the unspoken leader asked dumbly.

"Michelle," Alan replied. "I'm sure she made it out somehow."

"Oh, shit I wasn't thinking about that." The group gave Jamie a confused look. "What…?"

"What were you thinking about boss?"

"You guys," Jamie answered. "I know I don't say it enough or don't express it, but you guys are seriously the greatest people on the planet."

"Awe, thanks boss," Alan teased. Jamie punched Alan in the arm a bit hard, causing the latter to laugh in response.

"Oh that'd be fun," Zoey exclaimed randomly.

"Punching me," Alan asked fearfully.

"Hell yeah," Doc agreed as he also punched Alan.

"OW, fuck!"

"No," Zoey snapped. "We both go around saying something good about everyone else!" The men looked to each other then shrugged. "Alright I'll go first. Doc, you are hands down the coolest nerd with a PHD ever!" Alan hollered out with laughter, holding his sides as he slumped into his seat. Jamie snickered a bit, shoulders shaking as he tried his best not to laugh. Even Doc cracked a smirk, peering up at a grinning Zoey in the rear view mirror.

"Oh you're a fucking comedian," Doc replied.

"Alan! You're stupid, loud, disgusting, crazy enough that it could be borderline suicidal, and you smell just a bit." Doc and Jamie both broke out and started laughing just as loudly as Alan had before. The bulky survivor only crossed his arms, but grinned a bit. "But you know how to have fun in the apocalypse and I wouldn't want you any other way."

"Awe," Jamie and Doc cooed teasingly at the same time.

"Jamie!"

"I'm ready," said survivor stated.

"You are seriously THE selfless human being in existence and you look out for other people. If anything you're like a modern day knight in shining armor."

"Are you his damsel in distress," Alan asked.

"No that'd be you," Zoey shot back. "And he's an abusive rescuer."

"I fucking heard that," Alan said, rubbing his cheek gently.

"Maria, you have to be the cutest and most level headed person alive and I freaking love it when you kick people in the shins!" Maria grinned and giggled in response, her light blue eyes sparkling.

"My turn," Doc eagerly stated. "Alan, while you and I argue all the damn time you do have your good points, like whenever you get ten million zombies swarming you instead of me! I promise if you die I'll be sure to blow something up for you."

Alan sniffed mockingly and wiped his eyes to add to the act, "Thank you man."

"Zoey, whenever we first met I thought you were on your period because you were just SO damn pissed off at everything." The guys laughed while Zoey's face became flushed. "But, after all this time I've realized that you're really just a sweet girl who is deadly accurate with a freaking sniper."

"Thanks, I guess…"

"Jamie, you are seriously the only person I know of to jump on a Tank TWICE for the sake of someone else and you are seriously the best person to lead us through this damn apocalypse together." Jamie grinned then nodded to the doctor. "Maria, while you don't talk, you're still one of the most down to earth people I know, especially for your age." The black haired girl grinned at Doc.

"Alright, let's see, let's see," Alan said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Doc, we're in the middle of the apocalypse and you're still worried about your appearance."

"I like to wear clothes I'm comfortable in," Doc replied.

"I'm not talking about your clothes. How many gallons of hair gel to you have to use to keep your hair slicked back like that? Seriously I don't think a single hair has been out of place this entire time! All you need are some sunglasses and you could be Albert Wesker from Resident Evil!" Jamie and Zoey started howling with laughter, not making the connection before now. "Maria even though you kick me in the shins A LOT you're still the one person to keep us in line more than Jamie does probably, and you know just what guns to get us from the back of the trunk." Maria smiled at Alan. "Zoey!"

"Oh hell…"

"I first saw you beating zombies to a pulp with your bare hands and I thought, 'oh shit, I've gotta save her!' But Jamie saved you instead. You've been fucking great on this team and you're funny as shit. Boss, ol' Jamie, ol' pal."

"Here we go…"

"You have seriously got one HELL of a fucking punch dude!" Jamie started laughing, shaking his head with disbelief.

"So I guess I'm the only one left," Jamie mused. "Alan, you're big enough that I think if you became infected you'd probably be a Tank."

"And I think you'd be a Jockey," Alan fired back.

"Then I'd rape your face like I did to that Tank and like how the first Jockey we ever encountered did to you!" Zoey and Doc started laughing while Alan only sneered. "Maria, even though you're not even old enough for a driver's permit you're somehow the greatest driver I've ever seen and you got Boomer kill of the week whenever you door checked it." Maria laughed a bit, falling on her back as she started to remember her team's terrified expressions.

"Jesus that was an adrenaline rush," Zoey murmured.

"Doc your temper at times has to be the greatest weapon in the world. I'll still never forget the time you literally beat a Hunter half to death with your bare hands."

"He scared me and pounced you," Doc replied quietly, as if he were embarrassed.

"Zoey, you have probably got the best kung-fu kick I've EVER seen!" Alan and Doc started laughing, remembering the incident Jamie was talking about. Zoey only blushed faintly while she smiled embarrassingly. "And you've got to be the coolest girl I've met because you watch horror movies AND you play video games!"

"Thanks Jamie," Zoey replied with a smile. "That's everyone right?" The men nodded, sighing with smiles on their face.

"I didn't get a turn…" The hummer screeched to a halt and everyone turned around to Maria who looked back at her friends with a meek look.

"Did she just-,"

"Yes," Doc answered Jamie.

"Talked?!"

"Yep," Alan told Zoey.

"Do I get a turn or do I have to start kicking shins," Maria asked with a smile on her face. Everyone talked at the same time, but all saying she could go. Doc pressed on the gas, letting the hummer roll down the road again. "Alright…Doc you're probably the smartest person left alive since you've got a PHD and stuff…"

"HA!" the blonde exclaimed with triumph.

"Alan even though we've been in a lot of life threatening situations, most caused by you, you've always managed to make light of everything. But sometimes I hate you for it…"

"Is that still a good thing," Alan asked Doc. The blonde shrugged in response.

"Zoey, I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have another girl on the team. I was getting sick and tired of being with guys all the time."

"Awe, thanks Maria."

"Jamie, I speak for both Zoey and I whenever I say you are the cutest guy left alive." Alan and Doc started laughing, looking to each other then back at Jamie and Zoey. Both of those survivors were blushing a bit while Maria only snickered. "And you're a kick ass leader."

"Hey," Jamie snapped, still blushing. "Watch your language!" Maria lowered his gaze at Jamie, startling the latter. "Or…not…"

"HOLY SHIT SHE'S TALKING," Alan shouted. "Maybe this is a bad sign…"

"No, whenever you and Doc start making out is a bad sign," Jamie shot back before turning around to look at the former mute, "And why're you calling me cute?"

"Because you are," Maria answered truthfully. "Doesn't mean I want to be your girlfriend or anything."

"Well why'd you say you spoke for me," Zoey asked.

"Because he is isn't he?" Zoey blushed more and turned around, looking away from everyone else. "See?" Maria giggled, teasingly poking Zoey's shoulder.

"Anyway, now that the mood is lightened, I say we head south," Jamie exclaimed. "And on the way there Maria has plenty of things to tell us." The black haired girl rolled her eyes, sighing with a smile. "Gun it Doc!" The blonde pressed down on the gas, the hummer now flying down the freeway.


	18. The River

Alan- N/A

Doc- N/A

Jamie- N/A

Zoey- brass knuckles

--

The survivors stood in a line, staring down with distraught expressions. They had been driving down a freeway for nearly a day to get to a bridge extending across a river they needed to get past.

"And of course the bridge is out," Zoey muttered as she and everyone else stood at one end of a completely destroyed bridge, staring down into the river. "What now?"

"We could swim across," Alan suggested.

"Alan, that river is like two miles long! There's no way we're swimming it!"

"Man, we wouldn't have to worry about zombies getting us at least! They can't swim!"

"Well you know Alan there are these fish that can swim into your penis and they die and release a poison that eventually kills you unless we were to remove-,"

"Alright, let's find another way around!" Alan quickly walked away from the river, back to the hummer. Jamie, Zoey, and Maria watched Alan quickly flee from the river before turning back to Doc.

"Were you serious about those fish," Jamie asked casually.

"Yeah, but there's only in South America I think," Doc replied, walking back to their vehicle. The other three shrugged before walking back to the hummer.

"I've got to part with my baby," Alan exclaimed with anguish in his tone. "Why, WHY DOES THIS APOCALYPSE SUCK SO MUCH?!"

"Quit bitching and get your machete," Jamie ordered, grabbing a submachine gun. Alan shrugged then pulled out a holster he made for his machete that was similar to Chris Redfield's from the game Resident Evil 5. He put the holster with the blade in it over his left shoulder before sorting through a few guns. "Take only what we need alright?"

"No worries boss," Alan replied as he immediately grabbed the RPG. Everyone shot a glare at Alan who ignored them as he placed it over his shoulders. "Alright, so we ready?"

Jamie sighed then tossed an automatic shotgun to Alan who caught it with one hand. Doc had dual pistols and an AK-47 in hand. Jamie had a submachine gun on the back of his waist and an assault rifle in hand. Zoey had dual pistols and a sniper rifle. For once Maria carried a weapon: a pistol, but only if the situation called for it.

"So which way do you think we need to be heading Doc," Jamie asked.

"Well we need to head south in order to follow the trail Zoey's team left us. The river curves south if we head that way," Doc said, moving his arm to the left. "But as you can tell the forest is really fucking thick, while over there," Doc then pointed to the right, "There you have a very open area that has a ton of exposure, but it doesn't head south. But there could be a slight chance that we could find another way around, I'm not sure, me being a doctor doesn't qualify me to be a one man compass." The survivors looked at the two directions, trying to think of which would be the best course of action. Once they looked to the right however, there was a flickering of light in the distance.

"What the fuck," Alan asked, as all eyes were now focused on the flashing lights. "What is that?" Zoey shouldered her sniper rifle, looking through the scope.

"I think…it's a boat…"

"A boat could be very useful," Jamie stated. "I vote for boat."

"Second," Alan agreed.

"I think nobody is going to oppose," Maria muttered to the two boys. "So let's hurry up." The group shrugged then began walking down a freeway exit that was filled with cars to get to the boat.

While the survivors began walking they were surprised that there weren't any zombies that tried to rip them in half. However, the survivors did come across a long row of small shops side by side with one another. Most were gift shops or gas stations.

"Guys we gotta stop," Alan announced. "I have GOT to go." The team rolled their eyes then looked at a souvenir shop.

"Go there," Jamie ordered, pointing his gun at the shop. Alan quickly ran up to the shop while the rest of the group followed slowly. The gang waited outside for a minute and was surprised to find Alan coming back out.

"Done, let's roll!"

"Where the hell did you go at," Doc asked.

"Behind that shelf," Alan replied, pointing inside the store.

"DUDE," Jamie exclaimed. "Nasty!"

"Oh lord, I doubt the owner is gonna be pissed about that!" Alan stopped then snickered a bit, "Hehe, 'pissed' I'm incorrigible."

"I could've told you that," Doc murmured as he quickly walked away from the store. The survivors continued down a little bit before Alan stopped again.

"HOLY SHIT!!" The survivors followed Alan's gaze and saw a store with a sign that said 'Asian Crafts,' and some foreign writing. "A China store! I can break SO much shit!"

"Actually it's Japanese," Doc corrected. Everyone shot a look to the blonde who just gave back a blank stare. "What? I had a friend in college who was Japanese. She taught me a bit."

"She," Jamie repeated loudly. "Doc you dog."

"Oh shut your fucking mouth Jamie!"

"Was that your fiancé," Zoey dared to ask.

"No," Doc replied. "My fiancé was a redheaded bitch."

"See you talk about her and I just keep picturing you as Stu from the Hangover," Jamie said amusingly.

"Fuck you," Doc snapped.

"Sure thing Dr. Faggot."

"Hey guys, can I break shit or not," Alan called out.

Jamie opened his mouth to speak, but something impacted his shoulder and knocked him on his ass. A Charger then slammed its arm into Alan and smashed everything in the Japanese store before smashing through the wall. Alan screamed and pulled out his machete, stabbing it into the Charger's head, killing it instantly. The large zombie fell onto Alan who groaned as he pushed it off. Doc came running up just as Alan got to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Alan seethed. "The store broke my back!"

"…I give that joke about a six point five."

"Six point—dude what the hell!?"

"It wasn't that funny," Doc replied. "It was KINDA funny, but not hysterical like a Jockey jumping on your face." Alan gave Doc the finger then walked back to the store. Jamie, Zoey, and Maria waited in the whole in the back of the store, waiting on Alan and Doc.

"What the," Alan squinted at Jamie, noticing something on his hip. "What is that?" Jamie grinned then turned his hip, showing a sheathed katana tied to a belt loop on his pants. "What the—I should get that!"

"Finders keepers," Jamie fired back.

"This is bullshit," Alan shouted. "You get that damn sword, Zoey has brass knuckles and what do I have?!"

"An RPG," Zoey stated. Alan blinked a few times then shrugged.

"Fair enough." Alan walked past his team, back out into the road while the others followed him. As they were walking, Doc suddenly started snickering, causing everyone to look at him oddly.

"I'm sorry, I just thought of a bull in a China store whenever Alan got smashed through it." Jamie held back his laughter, his shoulders shaking noticeably though while Zoey and Maria giggled.

"Yeah laugh it up guys," Alan muttered. "I'm still the only one who's killed a Charger while it's charging through so fuck you guys."

"You're also the only one who got raped by a Jockey…aside from Zoey…" Said brunette gave Jamie the finger as they walked.

"We're seriously going to sail down a river on a goddamn boat, this is fucking sweet!"

"Alan, watch your mouth," Jamie snapped. "Maria's talking now and her language I'm blaming on you and Doc!"

"Like you've never cussed," Doc fired back. Jamie shot a glare at the blonde, who completely ignored it.

"This is going to be a long trip…" The survivors stayed out in the open, trying to avoid the extremely cluttered forest for obvious reasons. Alan and Jamie moved around the bank of the river, seeing a large amount of gore. "Oh shit…"

"Hold up guys," Alan said to Doc, Maria and Zoey. The bulky survivor leaned to Jamie, "What the fuck do you think did this?"

"Listen…" Alan and Jamie were quiet, hearing the faint sound of someone cry. "There's your answer…"

"Oh I'm gonna give this bitch a bad day!"

"No," Jamie hissed, grabbing Alan's arm. "We're moving PAST it. The boat is only a little bit ahead of us. The last thing we need is to ruin our luck of not running into zombies by startling a damn Witch!"

"…Can I at least shoot AT it?"

"You do and I'm shooting you. Let's go guys, and cover Maria's eyes." Zoey cringed and covered the little girl's eyes. Doc took Maria's hand to escort her.

"Oh that's nasty," Doc stated, but not stopping. The group made sure that they avoided the limbs, organs, and other gore that lied about. Once they were past it, there was nothing but riverbank between them and the boat. Unfortunately, the boat was already moving down the river, past the survivors. "HEY YOU FUCKERS!!"

"Uh…Doc," Jamie began. The blonde turned around, seeing a horde of zombies coming at them.

"BULLSHIT," Doc shouted as he started firing into the horde of zombies.

"Alan head back with Maria," Jamie ordered, firing his assault rifle into the horde.

Alan grabbed Maria, throwing her onto his back then ran back, following the boat. Jamie, Zoey, and Doc slowly started backing up, still firing into the endless wave of zombies. Jamie signaled for Doc and Zoey to go, and they did. Jamie fired a few more rounds before running after his team. Doc and Zoey stopped and turned, giving Jamie cover fire, allowing him to catch up. Once he caught up, all three of them started hauling ass. The survivors ran back to the road, letting them run a little faster than running through mud. The boat was already down the river, going down the curve and out of sight.

"Can Alan shoot that boat with his RPG," Zoey asked angrily, her jaw tensing up.

"No," Jamie shot back, before firing a few rounds into the horde.

The rest of the team turned around, with Maria standing behind Jamie and in front of Alan. Jamie crouched down so Alan could shoot over his head. The survivors waited, holding their guns for a horde to fly around the corner. They opened fire once the first zombie cam running around, shooting at the zombies coming around the riverbank and through the forest. Zoey shot a bullet through a zombie's head and through a second's chest, killing two with one shot before she had to reload. As the empty clip hit the ground, something wrapped around Zoey's body and yanked her back. The brunette screamed with shock as she was yanked back, her sniper hitting the ground. Jamie turned around, cursing before instinctively running for her. Doc took Jamie's place, moving Maria behind him as he crouched while Alan stood his ground, firing into the horde.

Jamie caught up with Zoey and grabbed the tongue, pulling against the pink muscle. It slowed Zoey, but didn't stop her from being dragged. Jamie was pulled up to a car while still holding on the tongue as Zoey grunted and screamed, trying to break the Smoker's grip. Jamie placed his feet on the car, and this proved to be enough to stop him and Zoey being pulled further. Jamie looked at where the tongue came from, deep within the forest. The survivor pulled out his magnum then took a wild guess of where the Smoker would be and fired a round. A cloud of smoke came out from the forest and the tongue went limp, causing Jamie to fall on his back on the pavement. Zoey was now able to unwrap the tongue from her arms and body as Jamie rolled on his back then moved to help her up.

"You okay," Jamie asked.

"Just fine," Zoey replied as she threw the tongue off with a disgusted look. The two looked back at Doc and Alan who finished off the horde while they dealt with the Smoker situation. The team regrouped back next to Zoey and Jamie. "So what now?"

"Well that boat is were we need to be going," Doc pointed out. "And we need that boat…"

"So now we've got to backtrack," Alan asked with outrage. "I'm _sooo_ going to shoot that guy!"

"He was running from the zombies," Jamie snapped. "But just in case this guy likes to screw people over like this, does anyone know how to drive a boat?"

"I do," Doc replied. "Not a whole lot mind you, but enough to get us down a river. I knew a lot of rich people…"

"My dad showed me a lot about his boat," Maria added. "I could probably help Doc."

"So does this mean I can shoot the boat driver," Alan asked.

"Please say yes," Zoey said, turning to Jamie.

"Let's get to the boat first, then we'll decide what to do. Do we have a way to get to the boat quickly?" Doc unfolded a map, then looked at it.

"Well, from the bridge there's a road that follows the river, but we'll have little to no visual of the damn thing because of the trees and shit. It's worth a shot though."

"BACK TO THE HUMMER," Alan shouted, running back towards the road. The rest of the team just shook their heads then followed after in a walk.

The gang bad it back to the hummer without encountering many more zombies. They all got back in for another drive, making a u-turn then heading back down the highway, eventually finding the exit on the map Doc pointed out then cruised down in silence.

"Alright, I got one to top that. The most awkward thing to be doing when the zombies hit would be having sex," Alan exclaimed.

"Awe that's not right," Jamie said with disgust.

"That had to have happened to someone," Zoey muttered with a wrinkled nose. "Odds are the guy probably wanted to finish too." Alan and Doc laughed, exchanging looks to each other that told Zoey she was right.

"Okay, what does she mean by the guy wanted to finish," Maria asked, looking between the group. Everyone looked away from the girl, Doc clearing his throat awkwardly. "I hate you all…"

"There are some things you're better off not knowing," Jamie said to Maria. "This is one of those things you REALLY don't want to know."

"But you all know, and you all don't seem to be too bothered by it."

"Well…we're old enough."

"Oh do NOT give me that bull shit," Maria snapped. "I've heard every cuss word in the English language at least ten times within five hours each day. I've seen infected people killed in ways that not even video games could've taught me, I think there are some things I could stand to know."

"She's got a point," Doc told Jamie, looking in the rearview mirror.

"You wanna tell her then," Jamie hissed angrily. Doc quickly looked ahead, ignoring Jamie's question. "Tell you what, whenever you save one of us from a special infected, then that person will have to tell you about the birds and the bees."

"The birds and the bees," Maria repeated to herself. "But that's stupid! I'm not even immune and I'm supposed to save one of you from a special infected!?"

"That's the deal," Jamie replied with a grin on his face. 'Dodged that bullet…'

"Alan, how much further does this road go?" The bulky survivor pulled out the map and unfolded it, scanning it carefully to find where they were.

"Just a little further I think. There's apparently some kind of tourist attraction so it's like a dead end. The map is fucked up though so I don't know what's down there."

"Guess we're gonna…oh shit…" The survivors turned the corner, in a large, open parking lot with only a few cars littering the area and in front of them was a bright, shining casino.

"No. Fucking. Way!" Alan's face light up almost as brightly as the casino lights. "We can gamble AND shoot zombies!!"

"First a strip club, now a damn casino," Jamie said, leaning back in his seat. "Anywhere else you'd love to shoot any zombies Alan?"

"Oh I've got a huge fucking list," the goateed survivor replied with a spark in his eye. "What're we waiting for, let's go!"

"Check the front door," Zoey quickly ordered. "This place might be barricaded from the inside."

"Anyone else notice how a lot of these cars are REALLY fucked up," Doc asked. The survivors looked at each other, all believing a Tank might be somewhere around. The hummer shut off and the survivors grabbed their guns and opened got out, but Jamie stopped in the open door.

"Stay here," he told Maria. The black haired little girl crossed her arms as Jamie closed the door. The survivors slowly and cautiously moved through the open parking lot, keeping their eyes out for anything. "Doc, Zoey, go check the front door. Me and Alan will keep watch." The two survivors nodded then headed for the door. Once they got there, they both grabbed separate doors, pushing and pulling with all their bodyweight, but the door wouldn't move. "TANK!!" Zoey and Doc turned around to see Jamie and Alan split up as a Tank slammed its arms into the ground between them.

Zoey started firing through her scope, piercing rounds flying into the Tank's thick hide. The massive monster screamed before charging at Zoey who quickly ran away. Jamie started firing rounds into the Tank's back with his assault rifle while Doc fired his AK into the Tank's side. The massive zombie screamed then spun around, slamming the back of its massive fists into a car, sending it flying towards Jamie. The survivor's eyes widened before he dove to the side, the car slamming into the pavement where he was standing. Jamie quickly rolled to his feet, moving to aim, but quickly ran whenever the Tank was charging him. Alan ran up to the side of the Tank and stabbed his machete into the zombie's stomach, concealing the entire blade into its body. The Tank fell to one arm, screaming in rage as it turned to Alan with rage filled eyes. Alan inhaled, making a strange noise before he hawked a large ball of saliva and snot in the Tank's face. The monster roared before throwing its arms up, lifting Alan off his feet and throwing him on top of a car's hood. The metal deformed under the pressure of Alan's weight as he fell with a loud thud.

"That hurt," Alan groaned, looking up to see the Tank coming at him. "Fuck!"

The Tank roared as Zoey's sniper shots hit its back. The monster turned around and chased Zoey who immediately fled. The brunette looked over and saw Doc and Jamie running to help her, but also saw a Jockey chasing after them. She opened her mouth to warn them, but the little zombie jumped on Doc's back and started steering him backwards. Jamie stopped; looking between the two survivors with haste before going for Doc. Zoey looked back ahead, realizing she was running towards the casino again. She stopped in front of the doors and pulled on them again, hoping they'd open up now. Whenever the doors refused to open, Zoey turned around and began firing into the Tank that seemed to move towards her faster and faster, eyes flaring red with rage. Zoey's clip clicked empty and fear washed over her face as she saw the Tank closing the distance. The sound of a car horn caused Zoey to look past the Tank, seeing a hummer coming up behind the Tank and lethal speeds. Zoey's eyes nearly popped out of her eyes as she ran and dove out of the way. The front bumper of the hummer hit the Tank's back at nearly ninety five miles per hour, snapping its spine and continued speeding forward. There was a loud crashing sound as the Tank and the front of the hummer smashed through the casino's front doors, rubble and debris falling on the vehicle and dust flying outward. Zoey covered her mouth with her arm, coughing as the dust flew at her.

"What the fuck happened," Jamie called out as he ran up to Zoey.

"A hummer turned a Tank into road kill," was all Zoey said. Doc and Alan came back up, the latter limping while holding his side.

"Wasn't Maria in the hummer," Doc asked.

Everyone looked to each other with wide eyes filled with horror before they ran up to the back of the hummer. Everyone started to call Maria's name, trying to look through the dusty window. Suddenly, the back door opened and Maria poked her head out, a few scrapes and cuts on her face from the broken glass.

"That fits the definition of saving someone from a special infected right?"

"Jesus Christ," Alan shouted. "We were worried as shit about you! And that was the zombie kill of the week!" Maria grinned at Alan, turning to the rest of the team.

"Oh, and the casino is open for business." Maria crawled back towards the front of the hummer.

The survivors shrugged to each other then followed Maria through the hummer. The survivors got out front the front doors and climbed out, the inside of the casino filled with dust, broken chunks of glass and wood. Everyone looked at the mangled Tank lying on the ground in a massive heap of muscle. Its back had been broken and the zombie looks like it had been bent backwards, and then spun to the side. Alan walked up and nonchalantly yanked his machete out of the Tank's stomach, wiping the blood off on a nearby pillar. Jamie turned back to Maria who looked around the building casually. Jamie was noticing the cuts on her face with a worried expression.

"You okay?" Maria turned her head, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Huh," the black haired girl asked dumbly.

"You were in a car crash. I'm making sure you're okay."

"I feel normal," Maria replied with a shrug. Jamie waved to Doc who quickly walked over towards her. "Oh lord, I didn't sign up for a checkup…"

"Just making sure you're good little lady," Doc replied, crouching in front of the young girl. "Stick your tongue out." Maria did so and was a step ahead when she said 'ah.' Doc looked down her throat with a flashlight for a moment before pulling away. Maria closed her mouth. "Try not to blink." Maria opened her eye as wide as possible as Doc shined the flashlight in her light.

"Don't you have to have some kind of special light for that," Alan asked, putting his machete in his back holster.

"Do you have the light I need? No, then I'm making due with what I have." Doc turned back to Maria, inspecting her eye for a few moments before going to the other one. Doc turned the flashlight off then looked up to Jamie. "I think she's fine."

"Yeah, I wore my seatbelt and everything," Maria shot back. "Now you said that if I saved someone from a special infected that they'd have to tell me about what you guys talk about that you won't tell me so Zoey you…you…" Maria's head wobbled a bit before she fell back. Doc quickly extended his arms, grabbing the little girl by her arms before she hit the ground. Jamie gave a wide eyed, confused stare to Doc.

"Slight concussion…she needs rest then she'll be fine." Jamie looked to Maria for a moment, trusting Doc's judgment. He turned to Zoey who had a relieved look as she stared at Maria.

"I guess you've got some time to think about how you're gonna tell her about sex." Zoey's head shook and snapped up to Jamie with a terrified look. "After what she did to that Tank, and the fact she kicks shins, I'm not going to lie to Maria."

"But why me?!"

"Well she did save you," Alan pointed out. "It's the least you owe her now. Plus you're a girl. It'll be easier for you than a guy telling a little girl about sex."

"I hate you guys…"


	19. Casino

Alan- machete, auto shotgun, RPG

Doc- dual pistols, AK-47

Jamie- katana, submachine gun, assault rifle

Maria- incapacitated

Zoey- brass knuckles, dual pistols, sniper rifle

--

Everything slowly came into light as Maria slowly opened her eyes, looking around with squinted eyes. "Hey," Zoey's voice said gently. Maria looked to the side of her bed, seeing Zoey sitting next to her with a smile on her face. "You've been out of it for awhile."

"What happened," Maria asked.

"You passed out. Doc thinks it was a concussion. Nothing too awfully serious, but it would explain why you passed out." Maria sat up, holding her head with one hand and felt bandages around her forehead. The black haired girl moved her eyes up, trying in a futile effort to look at her forehead. "Alan picked you up to carry you, but accidently dropped you on some glass. There's a bit of a gash on your forehead now…" Maria's face lightened up as she grinned widely.

"Seriously?!"

"Uh…yeah, Doc made sure to clean it really thoroughly so there's no infections." Maria kept grinning with excitement, trying to hold herself back. "Why are you happy about this?"

"Because now I have scars like the rest of you guys," Maria said loudly. "Jamie has like eight, Alan has all sorts of bruises and Doc has at least one scar we know of. Now I'm like the rest of you guys!" Zoey shook her head, laughing a bit with shock. "So…are you gonna tell me about those bees and birds?"

"Well…I was told I have to." Maria crossed her legs, placing her hands in her lap as she leaned towards Zoey. "Okay well…um…there's something called sex…"

"OH, that's what you guys have been talking about?!" Zoey's eyes were large and her mouth dropped a bit with a confused look.

"You…knew about sex…?"

"I've seen the movie Definitely Maybe where they sort of explain sex. I know it involves a penis being thrusted into a vagina and-,"

"Whoa, whoa okay I got it! You know way too much for a girl your age." Maria grinned and giggled, causing Zoey to smirk a bit.

"I asked my parents about sex after the movie. I guess they didn't check the rating of the movie. The told me that the 'rehearsing' was actual sex, and what people who were married or loved each other was called making love."

"That's…one way of explaining it I guess. Your parents managed to tell you this at your age?"

"Yeah," Maria replied casually. "They said I understand stuff easier than most other kids and that I'm way beyond the curb of maturity."

"That's the understatement of the century," Zoey said. "So now I guess I don't need to go through any awkward conversations about sex since you know about it right?"

"Except you have to tell me about what you meant by the guy finishing, and I want to know how specifically a woman gets pregnant, because sex does not equal babies!" Zoey stared wide eyed at Maria, a blank look on her face. "My parents said that sex equals babies, but the blonde girl and the brunette from Definitely Maybe didn't get pregnant and they had sex with other guys besides Will!"

"Great, you totally ruined that movie for me now," Zoey replied sarcastically. Maria snickered before staring intently at Zoey. "Um…well…ugh, I don't know. Inside of a woman's…V area is something called a womb." Maria continued staring, waiting for the rest of the explanation while Zoey's awkward meter ran up. "And men have something called…semen! And if semen gets into the womb then the woman becomes pregnant."

"Huh," Maria grunted, not at all disgusted or confused about what her senior told her. "So where does semen come from?" Zoey flinched, cursing herself for Maria's sharp mind.

"Um…semen comes out of the…uh…"

"Penis?" Zoey nodded, unable to say the word in front of the youth. "So men stick the penis inside of a woman's vagina, then the man…how does the semen get out of the penis?"

"Can we please call it the P area instead or something?" Maria shrugged, staring at Zoey to answer her question. "Um…the P area eventually…releases the semen and it kind of…shoots out…"

"Okay, so semen gets shot into the womb and then it makes a baby right?" Zoey nodded, her face becoming red. This is a conversation Maria should be having in a few years, not now, and _CERTAINLY_ not with Zoey. "So what'd you mean by the guy finishing when we were coming to the casino?"

"Well," Zoey began with a trembling voice. "Whenever people have…sex it feels good. And when guys…release, it feels good and sometimes they can't stop…"

"Oh," Maria exclaimed before laughing hysterically, falling forward onto the bed she lay on. Zoey cocked a questioning eyebrow, confused and embarrassed beyond belief. "So while zombies are attacking, the guy doesn't want to stop until he releases his semen! I got it!" Zoey's entire face now turned as red as a tomato while Maria continued to laugh. Things sounded so much simpler in the vulgar way of putting them: 'the guy doesn't want to stop until he cums,' but the way Maria said it made it so much more embarrassing for Zoey. "Dang, adults are crazy…so what's the difference between having sex and making love?"

'_Why does she ask so many questions!?'_ Zoey sighed then looked at the ceiling, asking whatever higher power there might be for support. "Well…sex is basically just two people…doing it."

"Doing it is a term for sex right?" Zoey nodded slowly, her face maintaining its new red complexion. Maria stayed quiet, waiting for Zoey to continue.

"They just do it to have fun or…satisfaction," Zoey practically force the word out of her mouth in an extremely slow manner. "And um…making love is…" The brunette sighed before concentrating on how to explain something like this to Maria. "You've seen couples with each other holding hands and talking as they walk down the street or something right?" Maria nodded once. "Well people in a relationship like that take things slowly and wait a long time before having sex."

"Why," Maria asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Um…well its because the two people respect each other and really, really like on another. And whenever they have…" Zoey motioned her arm to Maria, "You know, it's more passionate and loving. They do _it_ to sort of express how much they love one another…making any sense?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Maria answered truthfully. Zoey sighed heavily, feeling that she had gotten through that difficult trial. Sure she'd fought off hundreds of zombies, special infected, Tanks, Witches, overcome things that most girls her age would've gone crazy from right now, but talking to a girl younger than fifteen about sex was hands down one of the hardest things Zoey has ever had to do in her life. "So have you ever made love?" Until now. Zoey's face heated up to the point where she almost felt like she was going to faint as she stared at the calm, casual black haired girl.

"HUH!?" the brunette asked annoyingly loud. Maria sighed, a bit ticked off.

"Have you ever made love?" Zoey panicked, not sure whether to lie or tell the truth. What would happen if she said yes? Would she ask another twenty questions? Would Maria know if she was lying?

"Not…exactly," was Zoey's answer. Maria's head cocked to the side causing her hair to hang down. "It's…difficult to explain."

"This whole thing has obviously been difficult for you," Maria pouted. "But…I guess you have told me enough for now." The black haired girl jumped to the floor on her feet then held her hand out for Zoey to take. "Where are the boys?" Zoey stood up and walked into the casino.

"Gambling," Zoey sighed out, her face slowly faded back to its natural skin tone. Alan was the only one not gambling since he found a baseball bat and started whacking slot machines with it, causing coins to fly out and alarms and bells to go off.

"Hey I wanna do that!" Maria let go of Zoey's hand and ran to Alan who smiled at her then crouched down to ask how she was. Zoey smiled then saw Jamie inspecting a card table. The brunette walked over and stood next to the table as Jamie had his body under it.

"Having fun," Zoey asked.

"Oh shit," Jamie's body twitched a bit before he slid out from under the table. "I'm just seeing how the casino cheats people. That way I can think of a way to cheat the system." Zoey nodded her head, unconvinced that he could do such a thing. "So how'd your girl talk go," Jamie asked, pointing to Zoey's still flushed face.

"Don't ever put me through that again! I thought I was telling her something, but instead I had to answer like a million other questions. She's a freaking smart little girl!" A loud crashing noise was heard, followed by bells and alarms going off. Jamie and Zoey looked back, seeing Maria holding a baseball bat to her side and a destroyed slot machine in front of her.

"Jackpot," Alan shouted. "That's a hell of a swing girl!" Maria giggled as she put the bat up on her shoulder and headed to the next machine.

"Luckily," Zoey began as she turned back to Jamie. "She realized that she was torturing me and ended with the most awkward question of my life."

"Which was," Jamie inquired.

"I told her the difference between sex and making love and she asked me if I've ever made love." Zoey shuddered, not in disgust, but at the thought of telling a little girl that.

"Have you?" Zoey snapped her head to Jamie who had the same casual look that Maria did. How did these two take this subject so lightly? It embarrassed the hell out of Zoey. "Well?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Zoey shot back. "You're not a girl and I didn't have to explain how people get pregnant!"

"They have sex," Jamie replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, she's smart! She said that if that were true then every single woman on this planet would be pregnant. I had to tell her about a womb AND semen!" Jamie blinked once, twice, before he fell to his side, his laughter echoing through the casino. Zoey crossed her arms, looking away with her jaw tight and her face flushed. Jamie laughed for a few good minutes before sitting back up, wiping a tear from his eye. "Are you done?"

"I'm so sorry, but that's so funny," Jamie replied. "You had to go the extra mile with her."

"I had to go the extra freaking continent with her…where's Doc by the way?"

"He's off somewhere," Jamie replied, looking to his right with a blank stare. "Alan found the closest blunt object then went to town on the slot machines. Evidently his grandmother was the only old lady who didn't have luck with them." Zoey laughed and Jamie joined in. By the look on his face, Zoey could tell it was a joke, but it was a damn funny one. "Whew, anyway, I think we're gonna leave soon…" Another crashing noise was heard, pieces of glass and coins flying behind Jamie's head.

"JACKPOT," Maria and Alan shouted in unison.

"Once those two destroy every single thing in this casino…" Zoey shook her head then helped Jamie to his feet and started exploring the casino. "So you never answered my question."

"And I still don't see how that's any of your business," Zoey shot back. Jamie smiled teasingly, causing Zoey to involuntarily crack a smirk. "Why does it matter if I've fucked anyone vigorously or not?" Jamie threw his head back and boomed with laughter before lowering his head back on Zoey.

"Fucked anyone vigorously," Jamie repeated with a huge smile on his face. "Now I'm _really_ curious." Zoey turned her head, ignoring Jamie's smile. "What ever happened to trading information?"

"This is classified," Zoey snapped. "And why're you _really_ curious about my sex life after I said the vigorous thing? You getting horny Jamie?" Once again, the survivor burst out into a fit of laughter, throwing his head back. Zoey blushed, looking away once she realized what she just said to him. Jamie looked back at Zoey who was avoiding any type of contact with him.

"No I'm not getting horny," Jamie answered while chuckling. "You're awfully defensive though, so that means you've had sex."

"No it doesn't," Zoey spat out angrily. "Quit talking about this now! I've had enough sex talks for a lifetime."

"Fair enough," Jamie replied, still laughing a bit. "Forget I said anything."

Zoey nodded once, looking around the casino. It didn't look like the infection really hit here that badly. It seemed like people were in a hurry to get out, tables, chairs, cards, coins, purses, a lot of stuff was left on the ground, but hardly anything was wrecked and there wasn't any blood. The question is how the front door get barricaded if there weren't zombies. Doc ran around the corner, panting as he stopped in front of Jamie and Zoey.

"We got a problem," Doc replied. "Actually…about a dozen problems…" There was a mixture of grunts, groans, gurgles, and growls following Doc. "A lot of special infected in this place. All apparently worked here since they're dressed as such." That explained how the front door got barricaded. If they didn't have a gun they'd just lock themselves in and be trapped.

"Go get Alan and Maria," Jamie told Doc. The blonde rolled his head, tired of all the running, but continued on.

Jamie pulled out his katana, holding it in front of his body with the tip of the blade slightly pointed forward. Zoey reacted into her coat, pulling out her dual pistols. The two survivors quietly moved through the abandoned casino, listening to the growling and grunts of the infected. They tried to spot them, but between the slot machines and the statues, they only saw moving blurs in the shadows. Zoey and Jamie then moved back to back, circling around slowly, trying to find where they wanted to attack from. Two Hunters leaned over a nearby platform, watching their prey with murderous intent. Two more Hunters stood behind their fellow infected, growling lowly before they moved on. Two Smokers ran along higher platforms, one watching the survivors carefully, but followed its partner.

Jamie and Zoey looked around, their eyes hard on their surroundings. Suddenly, a Charger came around the corner and charged at them, roaring its insane roar. Jamie pushed Zoey out of the way and stepped to the side. The Charger missed, but swung its arm back around to try and hit Jamie. The survivor ducked then stabbed his katana forward. The blade made it through the Charger's body, but missed Jamie's intended target: the heart. The Charger roared in pain and lifted its might arm above Jamie's head. The survivor quickly dove to the side as the arm smashed the marble floor, forming a small crater. The Charger ran forward, throwing its massive fist forward. Jamie moved to the side again, this time the Charger broke a stone statue into pieces. Jamie moved forward, managing to grab his sword and yank it out. The Charger screamed in anguish once more before it grabbed Jamie, its hand wrapping around his entire body. The zombie lifted Jamie up to slam him down, but the survivor used his katana to pierce through the giant arm. The Charger released Jamie, screaming in pain once more. Jamie pulled out his submachine gun then started unloading into the Charger at point blank. The zombie roared in defiance, but quickly fell to the ground in a heap. Jamie walked up and pulled his katana out of its arm, looking around for Zoey.

The brunette dove behind blackjack tables as two Spitters, hiding in separate areas began blasting at her with acid. The green goo started wearing down the wood, but if Zoey ran out she was afraid of what other infected might be hiding. That's stupid, special infected can't think. Right? Wrong. Zoey ran out in the open, firing her pistols at a Spitter she saw standing on a distant Craps table. Two bullets whizzed through the zombie, killing it as it fell on the table, acid oozing from the holes in its body, burning away at the table. Zoey turned her head back forward, just as a Jockey sprung forward. Zoey screamed as the Jockey wrapped its legs around her shoulders and its hands on the back of her head. Luckily, Zoey raised her hands up to shield her face as the crazy zombie started steering her around. Zoey screamed while the Jockey laughed madly and drove her around where she didn't know. The Spitter pulled its head back to launch another blob of acid, but in one fluid motion, Jamie sliced its head off. Acid rained down around its body as Jamie ran to save Zoey. The Jockey started laughing as it drove Zoey into a wall, into a table and just about everywhere else, trying to beat the survivor to death by ramming her into things. Jamie ran up in Zoey's path, clutching his sword tightly. The Jockey laughed and tried to pull Zoey away.

"Zoey, move forward," Jamie shouted to her. Trusting Jamie, Zoey tried her best to move forward, taking two steps forward and one step back. Jamie sighed heavily, concentrating as the Jockey continued laughing even as he got closer to Jamie. "Fuck this," Jamie muttered as he pulled out his combat knife. In once swift motion, the survivor threw the knife, landing it right between the Jockey's eyes. The hunched over zombie fell backwards, landing with a thud. Zoey fell on her hands and knees, panting heavily. Jamie ran up and knelt down next to her.

"You okay," he asked. Zoey heaved once before coughing, then actually vomiting on the floor. "Oh shit…"

"That thing's fucking crotch was in my face," Zoey shrieked, shuddering with disgust as she dry heaved again. Jamie cringed back, but relaxed once he saw Zoey wasn't going to puke. "First the sex talk then I practically get face raped!" Jamie placed a hand on Zoey's back, trying to calm her down. "I need something to shoot." Zoey quickly stood up then walked further into the casino. Jamie quickly grabbed his combat knife then followed Zoey in haste.

Doc and Alan had Maria's back against a wall while they stood ready for whatever was coming. "How many special infected did you say there were Doc?"

"I counted at least a dozen," Doc answered. "Doubles of some…quadruple Hunters…"

"WOO," Alan screamed. "LET'S DO THIS SHIT!!" Just then a long pink muscle flew out from between a pair of slot machines and wrapped around Doc's body. "Don't worry Doc, I got ya!"

"SHIT DON'T SHOOT ME!!" Alan sighed heavily. With a shotgun it'd be difficult NOT to hit Doc, and the only weapon he had left was an RPG. With no other options, Alan started running to close the distance. "Oh fuck, ALAN STOP!!" As soon as the survivor got out into the open, a second tongue wrapped around him and pulled him away from Doc.

"FUCK," Alan shouted as his large arms were pressed to his side. The Smoker that constricted Doc climbed over the slots and stood behind the survivor once he fully reeled him in. The Smoker punched Doc in the back twice. "AGH!! Fucker!"

Doc threw his head back, connecting it to the Smoker's nose. There was a satisfying snap as the Smoker stumbled back, coughing furiously as it held its nose. The tongue drooped down, letting Doc pull most of the extra slack off. Doc grabbed the tongue with both hands, getting a sinister idea as he ran up to the Smoker. Once again, the blonde head butted the zombie, causing it to stumble back and cough madly. Doc put the tongue around the Smoker's body then climbed over the slots, still holding onto the pink muscle. The blonde doctor pulled back on the tongue as hard as he could. The Smoker coughed louder as its body was being pressed against and more smoke fumed from its body. Doc pulled back harder, grinning evilly to himself.

"How does it feel you Smoker fuck?! Not so much fun being strangled is it?!" Doc pulled back harder and the Smoker practically screamed in pain as its bones were being pressed upon by its unusually strong tongue. Doc placed his feet on the back of the slot machine and propped himself up to pull with more force. The Smoker screamed, coughed, then exploded in a cloud of smoke. Doc released the tongue and fell to the ground in a heap at the same time the Smoker did. "And that is why they call me Doc: because I give you fuckers a taste of your own medicine!"

"Doc," Maria shrieked as she was being cornered by a Hunter.

"Fuck," Doc shouted as he hauled ass towards the little girl.

The Hunter growled deeply as it slowly stalked towards Maria. It could smell that she wasn't immune. The Hunter screamed as it got ready to pounce. However, Doc jumped forward first, elbow-dropping the Hunter's spine. The zombie yelped with surprise and pain as its chest smashed against the floor. Doc quickly got on the Hunter's back and grabbed its head, beating it over and over into the hard marble ground. Maria looked in shock, but noticed another Hunter behind the enraged blonde. Maria quickly ran forward as the Hunter sprung into the air. The black haired little girl pulled the baseball bat back then swung forward, landing a hard crack on the Hunter's face. The force of the hit caused the front of the Hunter's skull to shatter, and the zombie as a whole did a back flip before landing on its front, unmoving. Maria raised the bat then started beating the Hunter in the head a few more times until she was sure it was dead. The little girl began panting at the dead body that started leaking blood. Doc slammed the Hunter's face in the ground one more time, surprised that it was still able to let out a weak growl. Doc scowled then snapped the Hunter's neck and turned to Maria.

"Are you-," The blonde stopped himself once he saw the Hunter behind him, Maria panting with a bloody baseball bat in her hands. "Did you just…?" Maria nodded in response. "You saved me and beat a Hunter to death…I knew I always liked you." Maria grinned and laughed between her panting. "Shit, Alan!" The oldest and youngest survivor ran out into the casino.

The bulky survivor had killed the Smoker awhile ago. The lanky zombie was on a high up balcony and Alan just pulled on the tongue and brought the Smoker crashing down to the floor. Whenever it was twitching, Alan stomped its skull in and a cloud of smoke came out as a result. The survivor brushed his hands against each other nonchalantly as he headed back to where his team was. However, a Hunter walked around the corner, crouched, and growling ferociously at Alan. The bulky survivor crossed his arms over his chest with a challenging smirk on his face. The Hunter showed its teeth, growling louder in anger.

Alan waited, but was shocked whenever something jumped on him from behind and brought him to the floor. A Hunter tried to claw Alan, but the survivor moved his arm and stopped the zombie's attack. Alan then grabbed the Hunter's arm then rolled it off of him and quickly got to his feet. The first Hunter lunged forward, but got a strong punch to the face. The zombie hit the ground and rolled back. Alan turned around just as the other Hunter clawed his shoulder. The survivor shouted out in pain as he stumbled away. The other Hunter once again sprung forward at Alan. The survivor caught the Hunter by its shirt then spun around, crashing the zombie's head into a nearby slot machine.

"Jackpot," Alan whispered angrily.

The second Hunter roared and got ready to lunge at Alan, but Zoey ran up and socked it in the side of the head with her brass knuckled hand. The Hunter stumbled and hit another slot machine. The zombie whipped its head at Zoey, screaming with rage. Zoey strode up then socked the Hunter in the face, imbedding the brass into its forehead. The Hunter's scream died down into a sigh as it slid to the ground. Alan released his Hunter, letting its body hang as its head was stuck in the slot machine. Alan turned to Zoey just as Jamie came jogging up.

"Thanks," Alan said to Zoey.

"No problem," the brunette replied, using her hand to pull a strand of hair over her ear.

"Yo," Doc called out. Everyone turned, seeing the blonde and Maria run up, rejoining the group. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're all fine," Jamie replied.

"Good, because I vote for giving Maria the RPG," Doc stated.

"WHAT?!" Alan shouted, taking a step away as if they might attack.

"Why," Zoey asked, bewildered.

"A Hunter was about to pounce me from behind right, Maria runs up and nails it in the face, MIDAIR mind you, then starts beating its head in with the same bat." Everyone looked down to the little girl with eyes wide. Maria only grinned innocently with the bat behind her back as if she were a lying child.

"Damn, I wish I could—WAH!?" A Jockey jumped on Alan's back. The survivors veered around just as their friend was taken around a corner.

"Split up," Jamie ordered, following Alan. Zoey ran one direction with Maria, while Doc went a different direction.

Alan started screaming, trying to push or throw the Jockey off of him, but the back-humping zombie had a firm grip on the survivor. Maria jumped on a nearby slot machine where Alan was running and took a batter's position. The Jockey, smelling Maria wasn't immune, couldn't help but be drawn to her, instinctively moving towards the little girl. Maria kept concentrated on the zombie, trying to swallow down her doubts and fears. Once the Jockey was close enough, Maria screamed as she swung forward. The bat cracked on the Jockey's chin, lifting it off of Alan and launching it into the air. The Jockey landed on its back with a thud as it squirmed in pain, laughing strangely with its lower jaw broken. Alan screamed as he hit the floor, and then scrambled away from the Jockey. Zoey walked up to the Jockey, flexing her leather glove concealing brass knuckles. The brunette then started wailing on the Jockey, taking her still pent up anger out on the special infected. Jamie and Doc showed up, witnessing Zoey's relentless beating of the crazed zombie.

"Damn," Doc said as he laughed a bit. Zoey landed a solid, finishing blow on the Jockey's head.

"Whew," the brunette sighed out as she stood up. "Alright, we ready to roll?" Zoey smiled to her team, blood covering her face and arm.

"FUCK," Alan shouted. "FAT BASTARD!!" There was a large explosion that sent Alan sliding back into his team's visibility. The survivors looked at a Boomer covered Alan, machete in hand. Alan only gave them a blank look, blinking twice. "Oh right: BOOMER!" The front of the casino started to get pounded on and boarded windows started breaking.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Jamie ordered.

The survivors ran the opposite direction of the horde, finding a back door which they practically exploded through. The survivors ran along the river bank, moving as fast as they possibly could. Without warning, Alan dove into the river, making a big splash.

"What the hell is he doing," Doc asked with a frantic tone.

"Washing the Boomer bile off," Jamie replied after a moment.

"Don't forget to scrub behind your ears," Doc shouted at the river. Alan's head broke through the river as he gasped for air.

"Damn this water is dirty as shit!" The survivor quickly swam for the bank and got onto shore. "Is it off? Can you tell?"

"I think you got it," Zoey replied as she was watching the rear, just in case any zombies caught up with them.

"At any rate we need to hurry just in case those bastards decide to follow us," Jamie said as he took point.

"Shit, I left my shotgun back there," Alan said without a hint of disappointment. "I guess I'll just have to use-,"

"NO," everyone, including Maria, shouted.

"Fuck, fuck, shit-fuck! What am I supposed to use to shoot stuff them?" Jamie pulled his assault rifle off of his shoulder then handed it to Alan. The bulky survivor glared at Jamie then snatched gun angrily, "Thank you." Jamie smiled at the fact he'd made Alan angry, but continued forward on point.


	20. I'm On A Boat

Alan- machete, assault rifle, RPG

Doc- dual pistols, AK-47

Jamie- katana, submachine gun

Maria- baseball bat

Zoey- brass knuckles, dual pistols, sniper rifle

--

The survivors had been traveling along the riverbank for nearly two hours, tired of walking in mud, the wet suction sound it made whenever they lifted their feet up, wet socks, and the fact that they would be attacked by a few zombies roaming the woods didn't help either.

"Alan," Jamie finally said. The bulky survivor turned to the unspoken leader. "Whenever we find this boat, you can beat the shit out of whoever drove the damn thing." Alan grinned then threw his fist up into the air.

"Thank you lord in heaven!" The survivors looked downriver, seeing said boat partially on the bank, looking like it might've crashed. "Awe shit, my day just got better!" Alan ran forward while the rest followed quickly. The ship was huge, larger than a fishing vessel, and looked like someone tried to run it up on land. "Anyone home? I have to shoot somebody!" After a moment, a scared woman with long, dark blonde hair looked over the railing with a shocked expression.

"There are people here," she called out, turning her head back. "And they have guns!"

"Uh…" was all Alan droned out. An old man with a grey beard and another man in flannel with a brown beard poked their heads over the railing.

"Well holy fuck," the brown bearded man shouted. "Get up here people!"

The survivors looked to each other then shrugged as they got up on the boat. On the boat were more survivors than the previous three. There was a middle aged woman, with light red, borderline grey, hair. There was a fifteen or sixteen year boy with blonde-red hair, glaring almost as if he was angry at the survivors. The woman that looked over the railing had bright green eyes and her hair framing her face, with light pink lips. The man who wore flannel was for sure a lumberjack, since he had an axe on his shoulder and the stereotypical look of flannel and the thick beard. The grey bearded man was apparently a priest. The two groups stood across from each other, the armed survivors looking at each other in silence while the boat crew just stared intently at them.

"So uh…I'm Jamie, down the line this is Maria, Doc, Alan, and Zoey."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," the priest replied. "I am Father Jackson."

"I'm Mary," the middle age woman added quickly, avoiding eye contact with the survivors.

"The name's Nelson," the lumberjack said, extending his hand to Jamie. The latter shook the burly man's hand. The lumberjack had a strong grip, and the hand shake nearly popped Jamie's arm out of its socket.

"I'm Amy and this is my brother Andrew." The little boy kept glaring at the survivors for some odd reason.

"So which one of you do I talk to about leaving us on the river bank a few miles down that way," Alan asked, eyeing his assault rifle.

"My word, that was you all on the bridge," Father Jackson asked. "I must apologize for that."

"It had to be a fucking priest," Alan complained to himself. Even Alan couldn't bring himself to beat the shit out of a priest.

"This boat belongs to my friend Charlie. He and I came to his boat whenever the infection hit our town and we traveled downriver and stayed away from the zombies. However…the military blew up the bridge so we started taking people downriver and kept coming back and forth taking survivors from the bridge to wherever they needed to be taken. We picked up Mary about two weeks ago and she's stayed with us since then. The last group we picked up was Nelson and the kids."

"Yep, I was the kids' neighbor," Nelson explained. "Zombies are tough, but a good axe chop to the head takes care of em pretty easily. And Amy sure as hell knows how to use a pistol."

"So where's this Charlie guy," Alan asked. The boat crew looked to each other with knowing looks.

"The reason we left down river so quickly was because of a large number of zombies…"

"Yeah, we took care of them for you," Doc muttered angrily.

"One of them got on the boat and bit Charlie, but Nelson killed him. We didn't think he was infected, because Nelson claims to have been bitten before. However…a day later Charlie turned into one of them and killed another survivor we picked up. He's up there." The survivors looked up to the captain's deck. "We don't want to risk going in there for fear that someone might get bitten too. That's why we've been here for so long."

"Consider it done," Alan said, pulling out his machete from his back. "Remember your promise Jamie." The brunette leader nodded once, letting Alan walk up the boat's stairs.

"Where is he going," Father Jackson asked fearfully.

"Don't worry, he's done stupider stuff," Doc assured.

"I gotta see this," Nelson said, quickly following after Alan.

"But what if he gets bit," Amy asked with terror in her tone.

"We're immune," Doc replied. The boat crew looked at Doc with confused looks. "I guess I'll have to explain…"

Alan and Nelson went up the stairs then walked to the door to the captain's cabin. Alan opened the door, seeing a zombie chewing on person's guts. "There he is," Nelson whispered, pointing his axe at the zombie. Alan nodded then took a step inside, hitting the wall. The thud echoed through the room as zombie Charlie turned around to Alan.

"Come on boy," Alan teased, smacking his free hand to his leg. The zombie got up slowly then sprinted at Alan. The bulky survivor grinned then thrusted his elbow forward, contacting to zombie Charlie's face. The infected stumbled back screaming in pain. Nelson started laughing with disbelief at how lightly Alan was taking this zombie. "Awe, come on, second try." The zombie spun around then charged at Alan again. This time, the zombie got socked in the face and flew back into the cabin a bit.

"Holy fucking shit," Nelson exclaimed with laughter.

"You want a go," Alan asked. The lumberjack shrugged then walked into the cabin.

"Come on Charlie," Nelson mocked, whistling like the zombie was a dog. The infected Charlie ran forward and Nelson drove the end of his axe handle into the zombie's face, causing it to stumble back with a broken nose. Alan bent over with laughter.

"Nice shot," the bulky survivor said to the lumberjack.

"Ahem," Jamie's voice snapped. Alan and Nelson turned around, seeing Jamie's annoyed expression.

"Right, sorry." Alan walked forward then swiftly sliced Charlie's head off. "Nelson, some help?"

"Sure thing buddy." The two survivors picked up Charlie by his arms and legs then headed for the door. On three counts, they threw Charlie's decapitated body in the river. Jamie walked up with the head and tossed it casually into the watery road.

"Now go get the other body," Jamie snapped. The bulky survivor and the lumberjack headed back to the captain's cabin and pulled the torn open, uninfected corpse and hurled it into the river too. "Alright, we need to think of a plan of action, so let's go." The three gentlemen went back down to the main deck where everyone else was standing around.

"Okay, here's what we know," Doc began. "Our group, except Maria, is immune, Nelson, Amy, and Andrew are immune. Father Jackson and Mary are a big unknown."

"Why does this matter," Alan asked. "Can't we just set sail? Zombies can't swim."

"Well that's normally what we would've done," Doc replied. "However," the blonde left the sentence in the air as he pointed down the river. It almost looked like a canyon, but a small canyon. "That's big enough for anything on it to jump on the boat, but small enough that the fall wouldn't kill it. So there's a very good chance that—correction, there is no doubt in my mind that zombies would throw themselves off of those walls to get to us, so we'll have to fight."

"Ah…plan boss?"

"Here's what I was thinking," Jamie responded to Alan, smirking at the fact that he was the first choice for a plan. "Maria and Doc know more or less how to run a boat, and so does Father Jackson, so those three are obviously going to be in the captain's cabin. Amy and Andrew should be in there too along with Mary. This main deck is most likely the spot where a lot of these bastards might be landing, so we can hold them off easily. But there's a chance that those zombies might get past us or land on the back, so Nelson, you think you can guard that door on your own?"

"I've held off worse by myself," the lumberjack replied cockily before slapping Jamie on the back. The latter let out a swift breath of air then coughed a bit.

"I don't know if he should hold them off by himself," Doc stated. "Maybe I could just tell Maria and Father Jackson what I know and hold out with Nelson in front of the captain's cabin and that way if something goes wrong I could just shout at them."

"That works," Jamie replied with a shrug. "So I guess Zoey, Alan, and me are holding them off on the main deck."

"You can't do that by yourself," Andrew snapped with a disrespectful tone. "Give me a gun and I'll help you!"

"Andrew," Amy hissed quietly. "Don't worry about him," the blonde girl told Jamie.

"Shut up Amy! I can handle myself!"

"Yeah right," Nelson laughed at the teen. "I gave that kid a pistol and he almost shot me four times before his sister took the gun from him." Jamie blinked twice before shaking his head back to reality.

"Okay, no gun for Andrew."

"Fuck you," the teen snapped at Jamie. "Like you haven't almost shot anyone!"

"He actually hasn't," Alan replied with a grin. "He's threatened to shoot us, but he never takes a shot at anything if there's a chance he'll hit someone that isn't infected."

"Bullshit, who the hell put him in charge anyway?!"

"Andrew, just shut up," Amy whispered harshly to the immature teen. "They're helping us."

"I can help too!" A gunshot rang out, causing everyone to jump then look over at Zoey how had her chin in her palm with a bored expression.

"Kid, shut up so we can get on with this." Andrew clenched his jaw and growled as he turned away with an angry look. "Continue Jamie."

"Right, three people hold out on the main deck, Doc and Nelson cover the captain's cabin, everyone else IN the captain's cabin. All for?" All hands went up except one. "All against?" Andrew raised his hand. "Alright, we're doing this! Get set up people!"

It took about an hour to find out the best places to set up and where the zombies could and could not land. Doc explained everything he knew about how to pilot a boat, some of which Maria and Father Jackson did and didn't know. On the main deck, Jamie and Alan stood on the main deck, side by side while Zoey sat perched on a nearby set of stairs with her sniper rifle. Nelson stood at the cabin door with his axe as Doc joined him.

"We're ready," the doctor told the lumberjack.

"Get ready guys," Maria shouted out of the window.

The survivors out in front tensed up in preparation. Maria started the boat, causing it to make a lot of noise as it was brought to life. Father Jackson put the boat in reverse, bringing it away from land as there was an outcry of a horde of zombies. However, the boat was already cruising down the river once the zombies got to the riverbank. Some dove into the river and died there while others ran along the forest after the boat. Jamie, Alan, and Zoey watched the zombies chasing them, all with glowing murderous eyes. Alan started bouncing around, shaking his head around to ease up a bit.

"You know what comes to mind right now," Jamie asked. Alan stopped shaking his head, but continued bouncing as he stared at Jamie. The latter looked at Alan with a huge grin on his face. "Awe shit! Get your towels ready it's about to go down!" Alan threw his head back then started laughing. The boat got to the canyon where the zombies stood on edge, ready to leap once the boat got close enough. "Everybody in the place hit the fucking deck, but stay on your motherfucking toes, we running this, let's go!"

Zombies stared leaping down onto the boat, some dying in the air as Zoey picked them off. The ones that landed quickly stood up and charged Alan and Jamie. The duo started singing in unison:

_I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat, everybody look at me cause I'm sailing on a boat! _

The zombies charged and started getting gunned down by Jamie and Alan, as well as Zoey. The survivors continued singing the Lonely Island song while blasting zombies. Alan started singing on his own.

_I'm on a boat mother fucker take a look at me! Straight floating on a boat on the deep blue sea! _

Zoey looked up from her scope, giving her partners a strange look once she heard them singing. _'Are they seriously…?'_

_Busting five knots, wind whipping at my coat. You can't stop me motherfucker cause I'm on a boat! _

"Oh my god…" Zoey shook her head before looking back through her scope.

In the back of the boat, Nelson started hacking away at a few zombies while Doc started firing at them. "You think your friends are okay," Nelson asked before swinging his axe downward.

"If I know Alan and Jamie I'm pretty sure they're having a blast right now," Doc asked before blowing a zombie's head off.

_I'm flippin burgers, you at Kinko's straight up flippin copies! _

Alan hollered with laughter as Jamie sung the song while spraying the zombies with his uzi. "What do we do about the dolphin part," Alan shouted over the gunfire.

"Improve," Jamie screamed back as he reloaded.

_I'm ridin on a Hunter, doin flips and shit _

Jamie started laughing, but remembered he was in the middle of a fight when a zombie's head blew off right next to him. The survivor looked up to Zoey, sitting on a small flight of stairs and waved casually at him. Jamie waved back with an awkward smile to say 'thank you' before going back to shooting zombies.

Inside the captain's cabin, Maria and Father Jackson were staring out the front window. "This canyon's too long," the priest stated. "We're not going to make it!"

"We'll make it," Maria replied with a confident smile on her face. "We've been through a lot worse than this, trust me." Father Jackson swallowed hard before praying for God's help.

_I'm on a boat mother fucker don't you ever forget! _

Jamie ducked under a zombie's swipe then threw the infected over his back, then stomped on its head with a satisfying squishing noise. Jamie and Alan stood back and back, shooting the overwhelming number of zombies, thinning their numbers greatly with the distant help of Zoey.

_I'm on a boat and, it's going fast, and,_ _I got a nautical themed: pashmina afghan _

Just then, the boat shook as a Tank landed on the main deck, crushing a few zombies unfortunate enough to get in its way. "Oh shit," Alan muttered.

"What is that thing," Andrew asked, staring out the window.

"Shoot it, shoot it," Alan shouted as he began firing into the massive zombie of pure muscle.

The Tank charged forward as Jamie and Alan separated. The Tank went after Alan who started running in circles. Zoey fired round after round into the Tank, having to reload quickly. Doc and Nelson came around the corner, staring onto the main deck.

"What is that," Nelson asked.

"Just stay back!" Doc crouched then aimed carefully, firing short bursts into the Tank.

Maria watched from the captain's cabin, biting her lower lip. Tank's were bad enough on their own, but now there was one in such a small area.

"They're going to get fucking killed," Andrew shouted. Maria turned her head, shooting a sharp glare at Andrew who remained oblivious to it. "Shit, we're all dead, that thing is going to fucking kill us all!" Maria threw a strong, swift kick to the side of Andrew's face, knocking the teen to his side. "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"You're not helping," Maria snapped before looking back on the deck.

Jamie ran up behind the Tank, which cornered Alan, and swung downward, with his katana. The Tank roared as its flesh now had a clean slice in its back. It swung its massive arms back, barely missing Jamie who then hauled ass. The Tank gave chase, still getting shot at by Zoey, Doc, and Alan, but focused on the survivor that sliced him. Jamie stood on the edge of the boat, concentrating on the Tank. The massive zombie lifted its arms up to smash Jamie, but the survivor ran forward, then slid on his knees and back under the Tank's legs. The massive zombie was knocked over the railing and fell into the river. Jamie stood up, throwing his arms in the air, then continued the song:

_I'm the king of the world! On a boat like Leo! If you on the shore, then you sure not me-OH!! _

Alan threw his hand up, 'whooing' in victory before he and Jamie smacked hands. Just then, more zombies started raining down. After what just happened, everyone's morale was through the roofs as they took aim at the infected.

_Fuck land, I'm on a boat mother fucka! Fuck trees I climb buoys mother fucker! I'm on the deck with my boys mother fucker! The boat engine make noise mother fucker! _

Jamie ducked under a zombies fist, spun around and swung upward with his sword, blood spraying from the wound. "WHOO!" Jamie spun around, slicing a zombie's head cleanly off. Zoey had been watching, firing her sniper rarely at this point since Jamie and Alan were having the times of their lives.

"Those two I seriously worry about sometimes," Zoey said to herself with a smile. "Fuck this." Zoey got up then ran down the stairs with her dual pistols.

_Hey ma if you could see me now, arms spread wide on the starboard bow! Gonna fly this boat to the moon somehow! Like Kevin Garnett: anything is POSSIBLE!! _

"Shit," Alan shouted. "Who do we have for T-Pain?!" Jamie opened his mouth, pausing for a moment before he slice a zombie's arm off.

_Yeah, never thought I'd be on a boat _

Jamie and Alan turned around, seeing Zoey shooting her way through waves of zombies with her pistols.

_It's a big blue watery road _

"WHOO," Alan and Jamie shouted in unison before they went back to killing the zombies.

_Never thought I'd see the day when a big boat coming my way. Believe me when I say: _

The three looked to each other with smiles before they turned back to the zombies.

_I FUCKED A MERMAID _

Alan punched a zombie in the face, causing it to fall on its back before he started unloading brass into its chest.

_I'm on a boat _

Jamie ducked again, spinning around and slicing upward across a zombies chest, then sliced another zombie's head clean off.

_I'm on a boat _

Zoey shot one zombie with each pistol, turned to another and did the same before spinning around, cracking the zombie's head with her pistol

_Everybody look at me cause I'm sailing on a boat! _

The three moved to each others' backs, making sure all the zombies were dead before they turned to each other, smacking their hands together. They nodded to each other before shouting together:

_Take a good hard look at the mother fucking boat _

Father Jackson started cheering along with Amy that they survived while Maria only smiled at her goofy acting friends. Andrew for whatever reason glared angrily at them before turning around, staring directly at Mary's yellow glowing eyes and blood coming from her ears. Andrew jumped back and screamed with fear as the zombie-fied Mary moved closer to her. Amy and Father Jackson looked over then screamed with horror.

"Hey," came along with a loud metal thud. The zombie Mary turned to Maria who had the baseball bat on her shoulder. "Come get me bitch!"

Mary screamed then charged at Maria. The little girl strode forward, swinging upward. The bat hit the zombie's chin, lifting it off the ground and causing it to hit its head against the metal. Maria turned around quickly as the zombie groaned softly then swung downward, crushing the zombie's skull completely. Maria sighed, wiping the sweat of fear off of her lip.

Outside, Nelson and Doc heard the commotion and turned their heads to the door. "What the hell is going on in there?" Interrupting their thoughts, was a second Tank coming down in front of them, shaking the boat as it landed. "Holy fuck, another one!?" The Tank screamed then charged.

"Split up," Doc shouted, pushing the lumberjack away from him.

The Tank went for Doc who was firing at it with his AK-47. Nelson screamed as he charged at the Tank, axe high above his head. The lumberjack brought the axe down on the Tank's back. The large zombie screamed and swung around wildly. Nelson held onto his axe which he imbedded pretty good into the Tank's back. Doc shouldered his AK, but couldn't shoot for fear of hitting Nelson. Finally, the Tank got a hold of Nelson then hurled him down to the main deck.

"That was fucking great," Alan shouted. "Singing I'm On a Boat while shooting zombies! Seriously!"

Just then, Nelson hit the deck with a loud, dull thud. The survivors looked up, seeing Doc scrambling down the stairs, firing a few bursts into the Tank chasing him. Jamie and Zoey moved past Nelson, who was immediately being helped up by Alan. The two survivors started firing at the Tank. Doc quickly jumped off of the stairs' railing onto the main deck while the Tank jumped down half the stairs and onto the deck. Doc fired into the Tank's back, but the combined efforts of Zoey and Jamie caused the Tank to go after them. Jamie held his submachine gun in one hand and his sword in the other, crouching down in anticipation for the Tank. Zoey quickly ran to one side, not firing at the Tank as she knew Jamie had some type of plan. The survivor fired a few short bursts into the Tank before he ducked under the Tank's massive arms. Jamie cut across the Tank's back, causing it to scream in pain and turn around quickly.

The Tank was met by a machete to its face as Alan jumped up on the massive zombie. Alan's blade pierced the left half of the Tank's head, destroying its eye and causing it to thrash around in pain. Jamie cautiously moved around to the Tank's back before he jumped on its back and stabbed his sword down the Tank's massive shoulders, into its back. The monster roared in pain and started stumbling back, its death approaching rapidly. Jamie started twisting and moving his blade around in the Tank's back, trying to tear up as much as possible while Alan started hacking away as much as possible. The Tank started moving back and with its last bit of strength threw Alan off. Jamie continued stirring his blade around as the Tank continued stumbling back, towards the railing.

"JAMIE," Zoey shrieked as she realized where the zombie was going.

The brunette dropped her pistols then sprinted with her amazing speed towards the dying Tank. Jamie turned his head, discovering too late where he was going to end up. Still, Jamie let go of the Tank, dropping his blade on deck and tried to jump off deck just as the monster fell over the railing and into the river. As soon as that happened, someone grabbed Jamie's wrist. The survivor looked up, seeing Zoey's face red with effort as she tried to hold onto Jamie. The female brunette slipped, falling over the railing as well. However, Zoey was stopped whenever Doc and Alan grabbed her ankles. The two quickly pulled Zoey and Jamie back on deck and fell back on their asses.

The survivors were either sitting on their rear ends or lying down, panting heavily. They all exchanged looks before they all broke out into a fit of laughter. Everyone watch didn't know why, but the four of them started laughing, rolling around or smacking the floor to try containing themselves. Maria showed up out of nowhere, pouncing Alan and joining in their laughter. After a minute or two of laughing, the survivors looked forward where the sun was coming up over the distant trees.

* * *

Holy shit?! Two updates in one day are you kidding?!

Anywho, I'd like to take this time to say that I need a place for the survivors to fight in that's totally original and unexpected, like an amusement park, but that's just an example. And I've already thought of using a school, so don't suggest it. Also whoever comes up with the best idea I might let them make a request for a oneshot that I will write…maybe.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

P.S. I don't know the two white guys who sing I'm On a Boat, so just to tell you: Jamie was the one dude with curly hair and the huge mouth. Huge mouth being that his mouth is big, not that he talks a lot, and Alan is the dude with the glasses in case if there was ANY confusion lol


	21. Just Crazy

Alan- machete

Doc- N/A

Jamie- katana

Maria- baseball bat

Zoey- brass knuckles

--

Alan and Jamie had been picking up the zombie corpses that littered the deck and threw them off into the river. Doc was currently tending to Nelson who was thrown onto a hard metal floor, and had at best a few bruised ribs. Maria was helping Father Jackson with the boat controls in the captain's cabin. Amy showed Zoey where the rooms were on the boat, and showed them the biggest room they had available for the survivors. And damn was it small. If the five of them squeezed together and slept shoulder to shoulder they'd have just enough room for their weapons. Zoey looked at the room skeptically, something which Amy took notice of.

"You can share a room with me if you want," Amy offered.

"It's not the space I'm too worried about," Zoey said somewhat honestly. "Do you have a place where we could hide our guns?" Amy tilted her head, wondering why the guns needed to be hidden. "No offense, but I'm kind of concerned about your brother."

"Don't worry about him. He's just mad because he feels like he's useless now, and it doesn't help that he can't use a gun to save his life…literally." Zoey and Amy laughed a bit. "I could ask Father Jackson about a place for your guns if you're really worried though."

"Could you please?"

Amy nodded with a smile as she ran off. Zoey smiled as she watched her new friend turn the corner. Zoey was happy that at least not ALL girls in the zombie apocalypse were drama queens like the last one she encountered. Zoey walked in, seeing two beds, and something that she supposed could've been passed as a mattress. Zoey inspected them for another moment before she turned and left for the upper deck. Topside, Alan was dragging two corpses by himself with some effort. His face was red and a vein was bulging slightly out of his forehead. He threw the bodies off one after the other. Jamie had a corpse over his shoulder, carrying it firefighter style. In one fluid motion, Jamie threw the body into the river. There were still a large number of bodies on the deck and only two people doing all the work?

Zoey took a few steps forward, "Need any help boys?"

"Nah," Alan said. "We got this covered."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to break a nail princess," Alan replied mockingly. Zoey's eyes hardened and narrowed at the bulky survivor. "I'm joking, but we don't want to you get your hands bloody." Zoey lifted up both of her hands, covered in blood and mud.

"You mean these hands?" Jamie chuckled as he grabbed another zombie and began dragging it.

Alan shrugged then nodded down to the pile of corpses as he grabbed two more zombies. Zoey bent down and lifted one male zombie up by the shoulders then started dragging it. Amy walked down the stairs, approaching Zoey once she lifted the corpse over the railing.

"Father Jackson said that you could put your weapons in the captain's cabin," Amy said to Zoey.

"Oh," Zoey replied, turning her head. "Thanks a lot."

"HA! Jamie did you see how that one landed?!" The two girls looked over to Alan for a moment then back to each other.

"So um…do you mind telling me a little bit about your team?"

"Sure, who'd you have in mind?" Zoey motioned for Amy to follow her as the former walked to the nearest zombie corpse.

"Um…I dunno. Just start with anyone…"

"Well…Doc is," Zoey stopped to groan as she lifted up the body by its shoulders. Amy quickly moved to the other side of the zombie's corpse then lifted it up, making the load a little lighter. "Doc is a doctor who got called in to examine the infection in a place called Mercy Hospital."

"Wow," Amy groaned whenever the girls got to the railing. The two pushed the body off the boat then walked back to the next body. "So he's dealt with this infection for a long time."

"Yup," Zoey groaned, lifting another corpse along with Amy. "And Doc, Alan, and Jamie found Maria and take extra care to make sure she's okay since she's not immune." The two girls threw the corpse over the railing.

"So what about Alan? What's he like?"

"I see Alan as being a dangerous person in the real world," Zoey replied. "He's eager to kill any zombie with anything he can grab. But he's really funny, and Jamie says deep down he's a softy. I haven't seen much of that in him though."

"Oh," Amy said quietly. Zoey cocked an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Let go," a voice shouted. The girls turned around, seeing Andrew trying to pull a corpse away from Alan. The sight would've been funny if Zoey wasn't worried that Alan would throw that kid overboard next. The girls ran towards the feuding boys.

"Fine kid," Alan said as he let go of the body. Andrew flew back, the zombie's leg lying over his body. Alan laughed a bit, covering his mouth to try and control himself, "You really should stop running your mouth."

"Fuck you," Andrew shouted as he stood up. "I can kick your ass I bet!" Alan's brow rose with enraged skepticism.

Alan had been fighting zombies for weeks, been in life threatening situations…mostly caused by him, but the last thing he was going to take was some disrespectful kid running his mouth. Amy ran up and pulled Andrew away as Zoey placed a hand on Alan's shoulder in an attempt to push him back.

"Andrew what the hell is the matter with you," Amy asked.

"I'm trying to help and this guy is saying I can't help! I can carry my weight around here."

"In case you didn't notice kid: that body is heavier than you." Andrew tried to push past his sister, enraged at Alan who only stood there with his arms crossed.

"What'd you do this time," Jamie asked as he approached Alan.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to keep this kid from getting hurt."

"What was he trying to drag the bodies or something?" Alan nodded. "Yeah, don't try and act tough kid."

"Don't call me kid damn it!"

"And swearing doesn't make you older," Jamie stated, bending over to pick up a corpse's hands.

"Fuck you, you think just because you took out one of those big zombies that you're tough shit!?"

"No, the fact that I've survived for three weeks, and that I've taken out like eight of those 'big things' makes me tough shit."

"I could kick your ass!"

"Andrew, stop it right now!"

"No, I don't know who these guys think they are, showing up and acting like they run the show!" A loud screeching was heard, causing the arguing survivors to cover their ears.

"Attention D-bags, stop fighting," Maria's voice boomed over a speaker. "Holy hell this is cool! But seriously: stop fighting."

"Fuck you," Andrew shouted back.

"Can I PLEASE throw this kid overboard," Alan asked Jamie.

"I'm considering it," Jamie told his friend.

"Just try it fucker!" Alan shrugged then walked forward, grabbing the kid by his arms and lifting him off the ground. "H-hey let me go!" Alan turned and started walking.

"Stop him," Zoey shouted to Jamie.

"He's just trying to scare him. Alan won't actually do it." Said survivor walked to the railing, holding the shouting brat over the edge of the boat. "But just to be sure…" Jamie, Zoey, and Amy ran towards Alan.

"Let me go," Andrew barked.

"You sure you want that?" Andrew kept struggling against Alan's unbreakable grip. "Kid there's no way in hell you're going to tell me what to do and there's no way in _HELL_ you're going to tell Jamie what to do." Andrew tried kicking Alan, who didn't even move the slightest.

"Alan, let the kid go," Jamie said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"This is between me and this idiot so fuck off," Andrew shouted.

"Screw it: let's see if the bastard can swim."

"No," Amy shrieked. "Please don't drop him."

"Jamie, stop pushing him," Zoey said. "Alan just put him back on deck."

Alan and Jamie looked to each other. Alan sighed then turned back, lowering the kid back on deck. Andrew was set on his feet, and then charged Alan. The former cage wrestling grabbed the kid's head then pushed him away onto his back. Andrew glared at Alan then walked away.

"You should've done it," Jamie murmured to Alan.

"What the hell is that kid's problem," Alan exclaimed, turning to Zoey and Jamie.

"Don't blame him," Amy snapped. "He just feels like he's dead weight for everyone."

"So he's going to try and force his weight onto us," Jamie asked.

"I'll talk with him okay?" Amy ran off after her brother.

"Kid needs an ass-kicking," Jamie said bitterly.

"And I'm wanting to give it to him, but damn it his sister is freaking hot." Jamie rolled his eyes while Zoey only groaned, smacking her palm to her forehead.

"Dude she's only twenty," Jamie replied. "You're five years older than her."

"No I'm not," Alan said with a confused face. "I'm only twenty three."

"What," Jamie asked, his tone dead. "You said you were as old as my brother…"

"No I said I was ALMOST as old as your brother. There's a distinct difference." Jamie's eye twitched, but the survivor took a deep breath then composed himself, grabbing a nearby body to throw overboard.

A few hours later, all the bodies were thrown off of the blood stained deck thanks to Jamie, Doc, and Zoey. Nelson had been taken to his room to rest. Two of his ribs were cracked and the rest were badly bruised. Doc had gone up to the cabin to help with the boat, but things were running pretty smoothly. Alan sat on the stairs leading up to the captain's cabin, staring out in the distance while Zoey sat at the front of the ship, staring forward in the distance.

"Good news," Jamie's bright voice called from behind Zoey. The latter turned around just as Jamie was at her side, leaning on the railing and staring off into the distance. "Father Jackson says he remembers Bill, Francis, and Louis and took them as far down as he could. Jackson said they were heading to South Carolina."

"South, what," Zoey asked, her tone filled with shock.

"I was surprised too," Jamie said with a smile. "Doc thinks when we found you, we were somewhere in Virginia, and somehow we cruised through most of North Carolina." Zoey's eyes widened a bit before she turned back to the front of the boat. "You okay?"

Zoey shrugged, "I'm kind of…I dunno. Tired I guess. It's nice to relax once and awhile."

"I heard that," Jamie replied with a wide smile. "We're getting closer to your friends at least right?" Zoey nodded, staring down at the river. Jamie looked over, noticing Zoey's distant look. "What's wrong?"

"We're in North Carolina right now right?" Jamie nodded. "We could just hook it to Tennessee instead of going south…it'd probably get us away from the infection, we wouldn't have to live like this anymore." Jamie stared at Zoey, saying nothing. "I'm saying we don't have to go further into hell to find Bill, Francis, or Louis…"

"Zoey, we came this far to find your friends, and I'm not giving up now so you sure as hell can't either."

"But we're going into this for me, for my own selfish reasons and I'm dragging you all with me."

"We'd do the same for anyone else Zoey. We're going to find your friends no matter what." Zoey smiled at Jamie.

"Thanks Jamie…"

"It's nothing," the male brunette replied, leaning on the railing. "So…what do you think are the chances of Alan getting with Amy?" Zoey held her laughter in her throat, but it eventually escaped as she broke out into a fit of hilarity. Jamie turned his head, looking at where Alan was sitting, "Oh, looks like he's already at work." Zoey turned her body around, looking at the stairs and seeing Amy and Alan talking and laughing with each other.

"Although it might work, her brother is too much of an ass for Alan to deal with it." Jamie shrugged, scoffing with approval. "They do kind of make a cute couple though…"

"Maybe…"

"Maria once told me that you and I would make a cute couple," Zoey said quietly. Silence filled the air as the two survivors glanced at each other before snapping their heads away quickly. Both were flushed with embarrassment. "I don't know what she was getting at though."

"Yeah," Jamie added quickly and nervously. "I mean we've never implied anything that would lead to a relationship right?"

"Totally," Zoey agreed. "She's just crazy right?"

"Of course she's crazy: she's Maria." Up in the captain's cabin, Maria looked out the window, her eyes narrowing on Zoey and Jamie.

"What's wrong," Doc asked.

"Those two are talking about me…" Maria said slowly and venomously. Doc cocked up a questioning eyebrow then leaned forward to look out the window.

"How can you tell?"

"I can sense it," Maria hissed with anger. Doc shrugged then leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up.

Later that evening, the survivors and the boat crew went to the resting quarters to sleep. Doc and Father Jackson stayed in the captain's cabin to keep the boat running, but everyone else was asleep. Almost everyone. Zoey couldn't sleep due to the tight quarters and Alan's louder than usual snoring. She had to hand it to Jamie and Maria who just kept on sleeping soundly. She couldn't take much more and had to get out before she went crazy. Zoey got out of the room quietly, closing the door behind her then got out on the main deck. Topside was very cold causing Zoey to rub her arms in an effort to warm herself up. There was someone standing at the end of the boat, leaning out. Zoey shrugged then walked up to the captain's cabin to see Doc or even Father Jackson, someone who didn't snore. She knocked on the door and waited for a moment, but no one answered. After a minute or two Zoey turned around, deciding lack of sleep was better than freezing to death, and saw that Andrew was now behind her.

"Uh…hi," Zoey said after a minute of awkward silence.

"Hey," Andrew replied. Zoey moved her eyes around, wondering what this kid wanted with her. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen…" Zoey narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the youth.

"Oh…cool…" For a moment Zoey wondered why this kid, who was so disrespectful to everyone else, was being so nice to her. Her question was answered whenever he saw the kid eyeing her entire body. Zoey blushed, and her face twitched a bit, fighting the urge not to smack this kid.

"I've got to go now," Zoey spat out quickly, moving towards the stairs.

"Hey wait a minute," Andrew said, following her. Zoey felt the perverted youth tug at her shorts, causing her to spin around, pointing a finger in his grinning face.

"I will let Alan throw you off this boat," Zoey warned. "The last thing I need to worry about is some horny little kid grabbing at me."

"I'm not a kid," Andrew snapped, his grin fading into a thin line. "I can prove it to you if you want." Zoey shook her head with eyes wide, absolutely surprised at the situation at hand.

"Just stay right there and don't follow me got it?" Zoey turned back around then hurriedly moved down the stairs. The brunette could hear the echoing sounds of Andrew's footsteps. At the bottom of the steps, Zoey stopped and turned around to see Andrew right behind her, giving her a creepy smile. "Stop following me you perverted little weasel…"

Andrew stood still, still giving the same smile. Zoey shuddered, either from the cold or from the creepy kid in front of her. She slowly turned away and moved towards the door.

"You've got a nice ass." Zoey's temper snapped as she swiftly spun around and slapped Andrew across the face. The teen stumbled a bit, holding his face in pain before he looked up to Zoey with a shocked expression.

"About time someone did that." With that said, Zoey turned around to walk away.

In a fit of rage, Andrew shouted then ran at Zoey throwing his arms around her and trying to throw her down. Fortunately, the boy was rather scrawny for his age and Zoey had been tangling with zombies for three weeks. It was a sad sight until Zoey pushed him off. Andrew came back then punched Zoey as hard as he possibly could on her arm. The brunette screamed with pain, holding her arm before Andrew jumped on her. Zoey hit the ground on her other arm, yelping with pain as Andrew's weight sat down on her. The young teen lifted his fist up to strike Zoey again, but something stopped him. Both looked up, seeing Doc holding the boy's arm back.

"Kid there are a lot of things that piss me off nowadays," Doc began. In one fluid motion, Doc lifted the kid up by his arm then tossed him like a ragdoll across the deck. "And you're just a universal pain in the ass."

"Fuck you," Andrew shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. "You don't know shit about me!"

"I know if you try anything like that again that you're going to be swinging from a tree," Doc threatened. "Now go and cry to someone who actually gives a damn." Andrew growled then marched down into the resting quarters. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Zoey said, wincing as she rubbed her sore arm. "That little fucker punched me!"

"What happened," Doc asked. "Father Jackson woke me up and said he heard something outside. I came out expecting to kill a zombie, instead I was tempted to kill a kid."

"I'll explain later." Zoey headed for the resting quarters on the ship, but was stopped by Doc who grabbed her wrist.

"I think it's best for you to stay as far away from that brat as possible. Father Jackson doesn't snore and neither do I." Zoey found amusement in the fact that Doc knew she was awake because of Alan, but was too angry to smile.

Doc and Zoey went back to the captain's cabin where she told her partner and Father Jackson about what happened. Doc suggested throwing the brat off the boat, and Jackson was just astonished and promised Zoey that he would have a talk with Amy in the morning. Zoey huddled up in a corner, wrapping herself up with Father Jackson's coat and falling asleep within a few minutes.

Light made its way into Zoey's sight as she groggily opened her eyes, blinking a few times to try to adjust her eyes to the light. "Hello Zoey," Father Jackson's gentle voice greeted as he approached her with a smile on his face. "How're you?"

"Sore," Zoey replied in a groan as she stretched her arms out a bit. The combination of being punched in on arm, falling on the other with the weight of her own body and another, on top of sleeping against cold metal did 'wonders' for her body. Zoey groaned again as she tried to stretch her muscles out, but it wasn't doing much good.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't provide more…comfortable accommodations for you."

"You're okay," Zoey said as she let her arms drop to her sides before she decided to stretch her neck.

Doc walked in with a blanket for Zoey, "Here." The brunette took it then wrapped it around her shivering body. "Alan had something to do, Jamie is still sleeping and Maria is-,"

"Zoey are you okay!?" The black haired girl ran into the captain's cabin and hugged Zoey around the waist. "I'm gonna kick that little bastard in his shins SO hard!"

"Kick him in the nuts, that'll hurt more," Doc suggested.

"Doc please," Father Jackson cooed, trying to play peacemaker. "We don't need more violence on this trip do we?" Doc shrugged, looking out the window.

"I'm fine Maria," Zoey assured, patting the little girl on the back. The brunette looked up to Doc, "So where'd you say Alan was?" Just then, Alan walked in and, for some odd reason, was groaning.

"Where does stuff in the toilet go on a boat," the bulky survivor asked as he walked towards Doc. "So what'd you need to tell me?"

"Andrew tried to rape Zoey," Maria shouted. Alan's good humored expression dropped and his eyes were filled with a fiery rage.

"Oh I'm gonna snap that kid in half like a damn stick," Alan shouted as he turned to leave.

"Please don't," Jackson called out. "I'm going to talk to his sister."

"Guys we don't need more trouble on this boat then we already have," Zoey added, tired of people making a huge deal out of this matter.

"No, that little bastard has had this coming for awhile now!"

"Alan," Doc snapped. Everyone turned to the blonde as he turned to face his partner. "Give him a good sock in the face for me."

"You got it buddy," Alan replied with mocking sentimentality.

"I get to kick him right," Maria asked Alan.

"You can dropkick that mother fucker for all I care!"

"ENOUGH," Zoey shouted. Everyone was quiet and all eyes were on Zoey. "Guys I appreciate the concern, really, but I don't think beating the crap out of a little hormone driven kid is what we need right now so just drop it okay?" In all honesty; Zoey was surprised that Alan was going to beat up a little kid on her behalf. Of course it could just been Alan's desire to beat the crap out of that kid anyway.

"Alright," Alan muttered. "But if he tries something like this again-,"

"I promise I'll be the one to kick his ass." Alan nodded then left the room. Maria still clung to Zoey's waist, staring up to the brunette.

"Are you going to tell Jamie…?"

"Of course," Zoey replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because he might get jealous and beat the crap out of Andrew." Zoey scoffed absurdly.

"Why would Jamie get jealous about something like this?"

"Cause he hasn't been able to grab your tush," Doc replied, not turning away from the window. Both Zoey and Maria shot glares to the back of the blonde's head, but they were ignored.

"That's stupid," Zoey continued. "Jamie is going to react just like you guys and I have to tell him that everything is okay. Don't worry."

"Please, that kid could apologize to you and actually mean it, doesn't mean Jamie won't beat the crap out of him."

"What's that supposed to mean," Zoey asked, placing her hands on her hips. Doc turned his head, staring back at Zoey before laughing a bit.

"Nothing," Doc answered innocently, turning back to the window. Zoey crossed her arms then turned towards the door.

"I'll go tell him right now," Zoey exclaimed. "And he's not going to attack Andrew or kill him or anything. You'll see!" By now, the brunette was out of the room. Doc and Maria turned to each other, the latter walking up next to the former.

"Young love," Doc sighed out.

"It'd be cute if they weren't so stupid," Maria added, her chin in her hand.

Down on the main deck, Zoey walked past Alan, telling him that he was going to tell Jamie. The door to the lower decks opened, revealing Andrew and Amy. Alan quickly stepped forward, glaring at the teen with eyes as hard as steel. Amy looked between the two, confused by what was happening.

"Step aside kid," Alan warned. "Zoey needs to get through without fear that someone might grab her ass." Amy's head snapped to her brother who glared angrily at Alan. The bulky survivor shoved the kid out of the doorway, then let Zoey walk into the lower decks.

"What does he mean Andrew," Amy asked sternly.

"Last night this kid tried to touch Zoey's ass," Alan answered whenever the teen wouldn't answer. Amy turned, her mouth gapped in shock at her brother.

Zoey walked through the cramped halls and opened the door to her team's quarters. Inside, Jamie slept soundly, despite the slight rocking of the ship, the cold of the metal room, and the faint, strange smell that was in the air. Now that she was here, Zoey found it harder to bring herself to wake up Jamie and then tell him. Taking a deep breath to give her courage, she walked up and gently nudged Jamie. The young man groaned in protest, pulling his blanket up a little bit. Zoey once again nudged him, this time with more force. Jamie opened his tired eyes to Zoey still wrapped in her blanket. He grinned then sat up, his hair sticking out in a wild mess. Zoey couldn't help but smile at him.

"What's up," Jamie asked with a yawn.

"Um…" Zoey closed her eyes then sighed to try and tell him what she needed to say. "So how'd you sleep?" Jamie blinked slowly with a look that obviously questioned if she was serious or not. _'Wow, that didn't make you sound stupid!'_

"I actually slept pretty well," Jamie replied. "Better than being cooped up in the back of a hummer in my opinion."

"That's good," Zoey said with a smile. "I couldn't sleep because of Alan's snoring."

"Just put a pillow over his face," Jamie suggested with a sleepy grin. "He should be fine." Zoey laughed louder than she should have for that joke. Jamie cocked up an eyebrow, wondering why she was acting so weird. Zoey cleared her throat, looking down, her hands in her lap under her blanket. "So what'd you do if you couldn't sleep?"

"I…I decided to go up to the captain's cabin," Zoey said softly. "And I stayed up there. It wasn't comfortable at all." Jamie chuckled a bit before yawning loudly. "Your hair is a mess by the way."

"Bed-head," Jamie stated with a wide grin. "Better than Alan's morning wood right?" Zoey's nose cringed with disgust before both she and Jamie laughed. "Yeah I get bad bed-head in the mornings. Especially when I haven't showered for days…"

"Yeah, that's one of the major downs of the apocalypse. Well that and perverted little kids." Jamie's head tilted with confusion as Zoey smacked her hand over her mouth. Why did joking with him have to be so easy? She let it slip before she actually told Jamie what happened.

"What about perverted little kids?" Zoey sighed, slowly pulling her hand away.

"Um…" Instead of continuing, Zoey let the blanket drop to the bed, showing her bruised arm. Worry washed over Jamie's face as he grabbed Zoey's arm and pulled it forward gently to get a better look.

"When'd you get this?" Jamie looked up at Zoey who was frozen. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell Jamie the truth. "Zoey…did something happen?" Zoey inhaled deeply then sighed heavily as she looked Jamie in the eye.

"Last night Andrew tried to touch my ass. I slapped him across the face and he tried to tackle me, but I pushed him off then he punched my arm and tackled me." Jamie's eyes lit up with a burning, fiery rage. "But Doc threw him across the deck like he was a paperweight," Zoey hurriedly added, trying to lighten the mood. "It was so funny! And then he made a joke about Alan and-,"

"Where is this kid," Jamie asked slowly.

"Jamie, calm down. Father Jackson said he'd talk to Amy. Plus Alan and I met Amy and Andrew on my way down here so it's being taken care of."

"Correction: it WILL be taken care of once I shoot that fucking kid!"

"Jamie," Zoey shouted as she swiftly grabbed said survivor's shoulder then forced him back on his backside. "Calm down. I don't want a huge issue to be caused because of me."

"You can't tell me you don't want someone to beat the crap out of this kid."

"I do, but he is just a kid who's confused and in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. I'm not forgiving him, but I don't think there's any reason for there to be any extra anger on this trip. Especially anger that can be avoided by people's overprotective attitude."

"So you're saying I can't beat up the kid who tried to touch your ass, punched you in the arm, AND tackled you?"

"I'm saying I don't want you to," Zoey snapped. "Everyone else just left it at that so I think you'd be able to at the very least." Jamie took a deep breath that seemed to last forever, held it, closed his eyes, then exhaled slowly.

"Alright…just because you asked me to." Zoey smiled with relief then placed her hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Don't think I'd do this for anyone else though."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Zoey replied with a grin. "Maria and Doc thought you'd be jealous." Jamie's face grew to a light pinkish color.

"Why'd they think I would get jealous," Jamie asked, his voice on the verge of breaking.

"Don't worry about it," Zoey answered, waving her hand dismissively. "They're both just crazy." Jamie smiled a bit, lowering his eyes to his bed.

"Sorry about what just happened…"

"You're fine," Zoey assured. "It was kind of funny though." Jamie looked up with a sorry expression. Zoey laughed at Jamie's appearance, almost falling on her back.

"Was it that bad?"

"Nothing compared to Doc," Zoey replied. "Doc said that Andrew would be hanging from a tree if he tried something like that again." Jamie grinned and laughed with amusement. Zoey smiled at seeing Jamie was back to normal. There was a knocking on the door, causing both survivors to turn their heads. The door creaked open and Amy walked in.

"Zoey, I am SO sorry about what my brother did. I had no idea that he would try something like this."

"It's okay Amy. Just tell him not to do it again or they'll be hell to pay."

"Why isn't he here apologizing," Jamie asked Amy.

"Ugh, he's so stubborn! He said that he didn't even touch you." Zoey rolled her eyes while Jamie's face hardened. "I told him to apologize but he said he didn't do anything wrong and that you attacked him first."

"I did," Zoey replied. "But I told him to stop following me like eight times before that." Amy shook her head with a face of disgust.

"Well I told him to stay away from you for his own good. If he bothers you please tell me." Zoey nodded to Amy with a smile. The latter smiled back before leaving the room, closing the door creakily behind her. Zoey and Jamie turned back to each other, the former cracking a chuckle.

"What," Jamie questioned.

"I'm sorry but your hair is seriously a mess!" Jamie scrunched his nose mockingly at Zoey, causing her to break out with laughter. "Alright well…um…I'll be outside if you need me."

"I'll be up there in a minute," Jamie replied. Zoey smiled then got up, heading for the door and leaving Jamie to get ready for the long day ahead…

* * *

**Alright, first off I'd like to thank everyone for giving me a ton of great ideas with which to use for settings for future chapters. A lot of the ideas were great, but I couldn't choose all of them, nor could I choose one. Instead I chose three lol**

**The first one I picked was (and I know a lot of people suggested this, but it's sort of a first come first serve basis) a museum suggested by Bl3h. I remember I had a huge list and I forgot one of my ideas and it was flipping sweet, but as soon as he said museum I'm not sure if this was the idea I had, or if this idea was just so kick ass that it blew my old idea out of the water.**

**The second suggested I picked was a coal/crystal mine/cave suggested by DevilsAngelSaphire. I mean come on, the threat of a cave collapsing around you, pure darkness surrounding you while zombies jump out and scream BOO! And other stuff obviously, but that'll be saved for later. Plus this idea can be pulled off and is SO original lol**

**The third idea I chose was one of two suggestions from RoseintheShadows7, either an asylum or a movie theater, not sure which one I'm picking yet, but I'm most definitely picking one of the two.**

**So there are the winners of my make-shift contest, and as such they may request a oneshot story of something I'm familiar with (no suggesting a series that I have to research please). Bl3h, DevilsAngelSaphire, and RoseintheShadows7 just send me a message, of what you would like the oneshot to be of, concerning plot, characters, and obviously the series. If I can pull it off, I'll write it. If not…I apologize.**


	22. Change of Plans

Alan- N/A

Doc- N/A

Jamie- N/A

Maria- N/A

Zoey- sniper rifle

--

The survivors were cruising safely down the river, encountering no problems of infected boarding, but plenty chased the noisy floating vehicle. Andrew was kept away from Zoey and Maria, mainly due to the latter wanting to beat the boy up more than anyone else. Despite this, everyone else seemed to get along very well, mainly Alan and Amy. In the middle of the day, as the boat floated gently down the river, Zoey crouched on the railing of the boat and started firing at zombies in the forest with her sniper rifle. Whenever she fired a shot that echoed throughout the forest, heads were blown to pieces. Zoey exhaled slowly before taking another shot.

"Damn, that's a nice shot," a voice stated. Zoey turned her head, seeing Jamie standing behind her with his hands on his hips. "I didn't know you could shoot targets while moving."

"Well it's different from shooting targets while running," Zoey chimed, before looking back through her scope. Another shot rang out, and another head exploded. The corpse fell onto its back with a thud. Jamie let out a low whistle of amazement. "You wanna try?"

"No thanks, I'm more of an up-close or at midrange type of guy."

"More of an 'I'm gonna jump on you and stab you in the face kind of guy," Zoey said with a smirk. The brunette looked back into the scope, exhaling slowly before taking another shot into the woods. The bullet pierced the zombie's chest, creating a giant hole, and the corpse fell on its back.

"Oh, you missed that one!"

"No I didn't," Zoey snapped back, turning her head to Jamie.

"Aren't you aiming for the heads?" Zoey rolled her eyes before looking into the forest with her own eyes.

"What day is today…?" Jamie looked up, thinking carefully for a moment.

"Sunday…? Maybe?"

"So this is week four after the infection hit right? And we're all the way in North Carolina right?" Zoey turned to Jamie, seeing his blank and obviously confused stare. "If there are infected this far south, then maybe we should just go further into west."

"Zoey-,"

"No listen just for a minute: if Bill, Francis, and Louis did make it all the way to South Carolina, and if the infection is further south, then they would've got west right? Plus they left Williams' base days before we even got there, so odds are they would've headed west by now right?" Jamie stared back at Zoey, trying to rationalize everything out in his head. "Jamie…I'm not going to risk everyone's lives to head further south just to find that Bill, Francis, and Louis headed west. Besides, if it's week four and the infection is this far, what're the chases that it hasn't hit south yet? I'd say our best bet, for survival and to find the others, is to head west."

"Alright, alright," Jamie said, holding his hands up defensively. "We'll head west if you're absolutely sure. No doubts in your head whatsoever?" Zoey shook her head. "Alright, I'll go tell them."

Jamie walked away, heading up the stairs to the captain's cabin. Zoey got up after a minute and followed to put her sniper rifle away and to see what they would say. Whenever she got in there, Jamie had just finished telling Doc and Father Jackson about the change in plans.

"I don't know if the river breaks off that far out west," Jackson said to Doc.

The blonde unfolded a map then placed in on the metal ground. Jackson and Doc examined the map for a moment as Zoey walked in unnoticed then placed the sniper next to the pile of other weapons. She walked next to Jamie and watched Doc and Jackson looking at the map. An idea popped into Zoey's head, causing her to hold back her snickers. Jamie turned his head with an interested look.

Zoey leaned towards Jamie and whispered, "What do you call a doctor and a priest in a zombie apocalypse." The male brunette cocked an eyebrow, confused while the female brunette couldn't help but to smile. "It's a pun of those rabbi and priest jokes." A light flickered in Jamie's head as he slapped a hand over his mouth to hold in his laughter. "Right?" Doc and Jackson looked up, the former with a glare, the latter with a curious expression.

"What's so funny," Doc asked skeptically.

"Nothing," Zoey replied, holding herself together. Doc continued glaring for a moment before turning back to the map. After a minute, Doc slammed his finger on a part of the map.

"Here, the river breaks off, then we just have to follow it up and over like so." Doc traced over the river with his finger, as if to mark their expedition.

"I think it can be done," Father Jackson agreed. "I guess we'll have to watch out for that break in the river then."

"Ah, there's always a negative. Look, this river doesn't go on for ever." Doc pointed to the end of the river. "It leads to a lake which has a town a few miles away from it. Our best bet is to hit up that town for anything we can use, transportation included."

"What should we do," Father Jackson asked.

"You're coming with us," Jamie replied. The priest looked up fearfully at the young man, "I'm sorry, but we don't have a lot of options. You can't just stay on this boat and pray for the best. If nothing else you've got to chance it." Father Jackson looked down, nodding with reluctance. "So how long will it take us?"

"A day at the most," Doc guessed with a shrug. "That's including getting to the town. But, if we book it it'll take maybe half a day."

"Let's aim for that half a day," Jamie ordered. Doc nodded then stood up, folding the map.

"I'll go tell everyone of the news," Jackson said, walking out of the cabin. Once he was gone, Jamie and Zoey turned and walked out as well.

The brunette duo walked down onto the deck, seeing Andrew at the far end, staring out into the distance as Father Jackson walked up to him. The two stopped at the foot of the stairs, watching the priest talking to the boy who nodded and said something to the older man. The priest nodded then walked off, but was intercepted by Jamie and Zoey.

"What was that about," Jamie asked.

"I told him that we'll be leaving soon," Jackson told them. "He told me that his sister kicked him out of their room and he wanted me to tell her. Andrew thinks that Amy is still mad at him for last night's…incident."

"Well we can go tell her," Zoey offered. "We should probably tell Alan and Maria too." Jamie nodded, then turned to Jackson for confirmation. The elderly man nodded then walked off towards the stairs. Jamie and Zoey headed into the lower decks. As soon as they entered however, they were met by Nelson, limping through the halls.

"Well looks whose up and about," Jamie said, throwing his hand out to Nelson.

"Yeah, the day a giant zombie with arms the size of tree trunks stops me is the day I start being environmentally friendly."

"So what're you doing up," Zoey asked.

"Ah, someone's making some damn noise in Andrew and Amy's room. I decided to at least stretch my legs."

"Well you'll have to stretch more than that, because we're gonna be doing a lot of running soon. We're heading west instead of south now, and we'll be there in a few hours maybe."

"Kick ass," Nelson exclaimed. Jamie and Zoey gave the lumberjack questioning looks. "Isn't that something you kids say nowadays, instead of awesome or groovy?"

"I say groovy," Zoey snapped.

"I've never heard you say that," Jamie told his fellow brunette with a surprised look.

"I forgot I say that."

"At any rate," Nelson interjected, "I'm gonna go up and stretch my legs and get ready to chop some more zombies if ya don't mind." Jamie and Zoey stood aside, letting Nelson pass between them. The duo continued into the lower deck, heading to their room first when suddenly the heavy metal door flew open.

"People cannot keep it down in here," Maria shouted, storming right past Zoey and Jamie without any sign of acknowledgement. "I'll be topside if anyone needs me!" The two brunettes looked to each other, shrugging with confusion before continuing to the last room.

"Do you hear that," Jamie whispered, grabbing Zoey's shoulder quickly. The two listened, hearing a strange creaking noise. "What the hell is Amy doing?" The lighter brunette (A/N: Zoey) shrugged then pulled down on the handle and pushed the door open, witnessing a sight she really wished she hadn't seen. Both Jamie and Zoey's eyes shot open with shock, outrage, and trace amounts of disgust.

"ALAN!!" Zoey shrieked.

"WHOA SHIT!" Alan and Amy both rolled off of the bed, pulling the covers with them. Jamie exploded with hysterical laughter, falling to the floor, holding his sides for fear they'd burst. "You ever hear of knocking?!"

"What in the HELL are you two doing!?" Jamie's face was red and veins were popping out with his uncontrollable laughter. Zoey looked down, shooting a glare at Jamie, who didn't notice, nor did he care.

Amy stood up, holding the covers up to cover her naked body, "Zoey, I can explain."

"You don't need to explain," Zoey yelled. "I saw it: you two were fucking!" Jamie then howled with laughter, hitting the metal walls to try and stop himself.

"Stop, stop it's too damn funny!" Zoey shot another glare at Jamie who still didn't pay attention.

"Jesus, who are you my mom," Alan asked.

"No, I just don't want to see your hairy ass fucking ANYONE," Zoey snapped, covering her eyes from the tent that stood out from the blankets. "Jesus Christ this is going to haunt me!"

"Jamie seems to be getting the best of this," Alan said, pointing to the survivor who was now rolling as much as possible in the confined spaces of the halls. Zoey growled then kicked Jamie, who only said 'ow,' and then continued laughing. "Why're you freaking out about this?"

"Because I just SAW your hairy ass fucking someone! And on top of that you two only met like fourteen hours ago!"

"I work fast," Alan said casually, shrugging without a care. Jamie then stood up, the red in his face fading away as he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes, and his laughter residing to a few chuckles.

"Holy shit," Jamie sighed humouredly.

"See, he's not disgusted!"

"No I'm absolutely putrefied," Jamie replied. "See, I gotta pull out big words to express my feelings. But, with the combination of that being the last thing I'd expect to see and you flying off the bed and taking Amy with you sent me over the abyss of comedic genius."

"Damn boss, you should be a poet."

"And you should put some pants on," Jamie shot back. "We're heading west and we're gonna have to do some walking in a few hours."

"Can I at least finish," Alan asked. This got the bulky survivor a glare from both girls that caused him to move back a bit.

"Take it up with them," Jamie responded with a grin before he walked away. Zoey shot one last glare at Alan before following Jamie, leaving the door wide open. Once they were gone, Jamie giggled while Zoey walked past him and shuddered. "That's not how I wanted to start the day."

"You seemed to make the most of it," Zoey hissed.

"Well you've got to in a situation like that," Jamie remarked with a grin.

"How were you not TOTALLY disgusted by that sight?"

"Who Alan? Same way you're not disgusted by seeing other women naked. It's not nasty, just embarrassing. Well except in your case with him…" Zoey shuddered again before leaving to head to the main deck. The two brunettes didn't stop until they got to the captain's cabin where Doc, Father Jackson, Nelson, and Maria lingered around.

"Did you guys tell Amy," Father Jackson asked. Zoey shuddered harder, on the verge of shaking, with disgust.

"You could say that," Jamie replied, pressing his smile into a tight line.

"What about Alan," Maria questioned next. "I didn't see him up here."

"Holy shit," Nelson's eyes widened with realization before he turned to Zoey and Jamie. "No they weren't!"

"They were," Jamie squeaked, trying to suppress his laughter.

Nelson threw his head to the ceiling the howled like a wolf before laughing hysterically. Jamie soon lost it, joining the lumberjack in his laughter. Doc's eyes widened briefly before he looked down, shaking his head with disgust. Father Jackson looked between them with confusion. Doc noticed the priest's expression then leaned forward and whispered into his ear. The priest's eyes widened and his face flushed.

"Oh dear!"

"That son of a bitch works fast," Nelson exclaimed. "Fuck that's impressive."

"I'm confused," Maria said with a harsh tone that seemed to demand more than inform.

"Um…they were having sex," Jamie said bluntly. Nelson and Jackson gave shocked looks to Jamie, unknowing to the 'chat' that Maria had with Zoey. Maria was quiet for a moment.

"Huh…that's weird…" The priest and the lumberjack whipped their heads around to Maria who just jumped up on a chair then stared out the window with Doc.

"She and Zoey had some girl talk," Jamie told them.

Hours later, the group met on the main deck, ready to bum-rush the land once the boat stopped. Jamie had a submachine gun and katana obviously, Zoey had a sniper and dual pistols. Doc had given Amy his dual pistols since Nelson said she was deadly with the small firearms, leaving the former with an AK-47. Nelson of course had his trusty axe, preferring either a shotgun or any other weapon that he could get up close and personal with. Alan had his machete, assault rifle, and RPG, still to the distress of a lot of people in the group, and was ready to move out. Maria had a baseball bat and stood with Andrew, who is confirmed to be immune, and Father Jackson, who is a big question mark. In the captain's cabin, Doc slowly guided the boat along the shore, waiting for it to jerk once it made contact with land. The boat creaked, and quite suddenly stopped, throwing the survivors off balance or onto the floor. Everyone got up quickly and Doc hauled his rear end down the stairs to rejoin the group.

"Let's move," Jamie ordered, as Alan and Nelson put the boarding ramp out to the land. The order they filed out was: Jamie, Zoey, Amy, Maria, Father Jackson, Andrew, Nelson, Doc, and Alan. They moved quickly and quietly through the forest in the direction Doc pointed that they should head out to. "This apocalypse would be so much easier if we had a fucking GPS…"

"Maybe I should be up ahead," Doc suggested. "That way I can point to where we need to go."

Jamie shrugged then jerked his head back, looking at Zoey. The latter nodded then ran to the back of the group as Doc ran towards the front. To Zoey's dismay, she was now moving next to Alan. Doc started whispering with Jamie, pointing to various points throughout the forest as the group stopped to look at the map. Zoey avoided any type of contact with Alan, staring into the forest instead of at her teammate. Alan stared at Zoey, wondering what the issue was.

After a minute or two of silence between them Alan asked: "Zoey, what's the big deal?"

"You," Zoey half-shouted, but then lowered her voice to a menacing whisper. "You had sex with Amy! Just fucked her a day after meeting her!"

"What's your point," Alan said slowly, to ensure she got the message.

"Why would you fuck her?! Right now she's probably wondering if you two have a future!"

"And we do," Alan replied, placing his assault rifle on his shoulders.

"A future means after the apocalypse." Alan gave Zoey a look, almost saying 'and…?' Zoey sighed then turned away, giving up on her bulky comrade.

"Listen, despite my attitude I'm a nice guy Zoey," Alan whispered to her. "I'm not the type of person who would just fuck a girl just for the sake of fucking her. I genuinely like her." Zoey narrowed her eyes at the ground, sticking out her lower lip. "Trust me, if we survive this I'm taking Amy somewhere for a date. Maybe a McDonalds or something?"

Zoey groaned, holding her stomach, "After the last city we were in I've had enough McDonald's to last a lifetime."

"Oh right…that damn Boomer that I chopped in the head, and somehow stayed in tacked." Alan chuckled a bit at the memory and Zoey cracked a smirk as she recalled Alan's terrified expression. "So are you still pissed at me?" Zoey looked up at Alan, giving a skeptical gaze.

"You gotta promise you'll take her out on a date."

"Deal," Alan agreed, sticking her hand out to Zoey. The brunette grabbed it and shook his hand.

"Hey, we're moving out," Doc snapped.

The survivors held their weapons ready then moved through the forest as quickly and silently as possible. After almost an hour of walking, they hadn't encountered any infected of any kind, let alone heard anything out of the ordinary. However, this didn't mean that they weren't tired as hell. They moving had slowed practically to a crawl. Jamie's foot crunched some dead leaves and twigs whenever he stopped to listen. He held his hand up, signaling everyone else to stop. They all listened, hearing the sound of gunfire. Spirits lifted, the survivors quickly ran faster than ever through the forest. The more they ran, the louder the gunfire got. Once they found a break in the forest, the survivors were horrified at what they saw. It was a small town, fires everywhere, armed civilians firing into the infected that flooded the town and roads, and a few military vehicles armed with turrets that fired into infected that threatened to swarm them.

"Plan boss," Alan asked, his tone shaking.

"RUN!" Everyone looked over, seeing a giant bolder coming at them.

The survivors scattered as the rock hit and a Tank came rampaging down the road. The group split up into three: Jamie, Nelson, and Andrew, Zoey, Doc, and Amy, Father Jackson, Alan, and Maria. The teams all scattered into the town, not thinking about rejoining, but rather escaping the infected and endless gunfire.

"Over here," a voice called out to Zoey, Doc, and Amy. The three looked up, seeing someone waving through a window of a nearby house.

"Go," Doc shouted as he spun round and started firing at the infected. Zoey and Amy ran up to a heavy wooden door that opened. The girls ran in safely, but Zoey stopped in the doorway.

"Doc," the brunette shouted. Said survivor spun back around and ran to the house as Amy and Zoey picked off infected with their pistols. The door slammed shut and infected pounced on the door, trying to get in. However, the door was heavier than a lot of metal doors Zoey had known infected for busting open. "You okay?"

"Where are the others," Doc asked, looking around quickly.

Jamie had taken point in his group as the only one who had a firearm, trying to move around the houses to get to the military vehicles without having to worry of getting shot. Nelson held up the rear, chopping infected that tried to catch them while Andrew stood between them with nothing to defend himself.

"Hey," a voice called out. Andrew looked over, seeing someone looking through a boarded up window.

"Over there," Andrew shouted to Jamie and Nelson. The two infected killers looked to where Andrew was pointing, seeing the person looking through the window.

"Go get there," Jamie ordered to Andrew and Nelson. The lumberjack grabbed Andrew's arm then ran towards the house while Jamie moved back slowly, firing into the oncoming zombies. As his clip ran out, Jamie turned around then ran for the house just as Nelson and Andrew got in. A heavy wooden door slammed shut behind the survivors as they got in.

Alan had a harder way with things than everyone else since he was the only one with a firearm, let alone a weapon. Father Jackson and Maria ran ahead of the bulky survivor, since most of the infected were coming from behind anyway and Alan was more than happy to gun them down. A loud banging noise, not a gun, was heard, causing Maria and Father Jackson to whip their heads around. A man with a scruffy face and a baseball hat on, pump shotgun in had walked out of an open door and began blasting nearby zombies.

"Get movin'," he ordered with a thick southern accent. Jackson grabbed Maria's hand then ran to their savior wielding a shotgun and headed inside of the house. Alan turned around, following after them inside the house. The man fired at one last zombie before slamming the heavy wooden door behind him. "Shit, that was close." The man inspected the survivors for a moment. "You folks ain't from around here are ya?"

"Nope," Alan replied as he got to his feet.

"Name's Chris, nice to meet ya'll." Alan shook Chris' hand.

"I'm Alan, that's Maria, and this is Father Jackson."

"Thank you very much for saving us good sir," Jackson said, shaking Chris' hand with both of his. Maria nodded before she ran up to the window, staring outside. All she saw were people scrambling for the military vehicles, but only to get torn apart by the zombies or shot by accident by the army. It was an accident wasn't it…?

"What happened," Alan asked.

"Shit I dunno," Chris replied. "I'm just driving around in the woods when suddenly the radio starts tellin me to head to military evac zones in this town. I thought nothin of it at fist, but when I got here, well…I'm just glad I had my shotgun."

Jamie looked around the house, seeing a young girl, around fourteen he guessed, and a young man a year or two older than he was. "You guys, you're not from around here are you?"

"Nah, but I've visited a few times," Nelson replied, shouldering his axe.

"At least you've got some weapons," the young man continued. "My name is Emilio and this is Jade."

"I'm Jamie, that's Nelson and this is Andrew. What happened out here?"

"I came out here to visit my cousins and I accidently hit someone on my way in. But whoever it was just got up and I saw that he was a zombie, looking like those infected in the news. I thought the infection was only up north?"

"Apparently its spreadin," Nelson chimed in, looking casually out the windows. "Those military vehicles are a long ways away…and they're getting swarmed." Jamie, Emilio, Jade, and Andrew walked up to the window, staring outside and saw and endless wave of zombies getting mowed down by the army's gun turrets. "They can't hold out forever…we got to get out ourselves."

"The military managed to set up some of these house for…what'd they call them? Safe houses? There is a radio in the back room. I'll show you."

"Nelson," Jamie said as he paused. The brunette looked at Andrew, then to Jade. "Keep an eye on things here." Nelson nodded with a smirk that made Jamie worry a bit. However, the latter followed Emilio into the back rooms.

Zoey looked up, seeing a young man and girl helping her to her feet. As she further inspected the room she saw Doc and Amy were safe and sound, but also saw a shaking young man in the corner. The sound of a bell caused Zoey's head to swerve towards the noise. It was a sight she didn't expect to see in the apocalypse: an old lady baking pies. Despite the cliché, the pie smelled delicious. After living off of mostly snacks and water, or energy drinks, and actual meal practically caused Zoey's mouth to water.

"Are you all okay," the young girl asked.

"We're fine," Doc snapped as he ran to the window quickly, staring out into the town. "Shit, where is everyone!?"

"They should be safe," the young man replied, trying to calm the angry doctor down. "There are a few others holding out in houses like us. I'm sure there are a ton of other people safe."

"Um, I'm Zoey," the brunette said, changing topics. "That's Doc, and this is Amy."

"Hi, I'm Alex and this is my sister Kelsey. That's Frank," Alex said, pointing to the shaking man in the corner. "And this is our grandma Meredith."

"And why is she baking pies," Amy questioned skeptically.

"Well what else am I supposed to do," Meredith asked as she placed the hot pie on the counter. "It was already baking whenever the infection hit and I'm far too old to shoot a gun."

"How about swing a club," Doc suggested angrily, trying to look inside the houses.

"Not hard enough I'm afraid, young man."

Doc would've replied back, but he then noticed the military getting torn to shreds by the zombies. They were overwhelmed when the Tank from earlier rushed them acting as a bullet sponge that allowed the other zombies to move in for the kill. Doc seethed with anger, there went their escape plan. He continued looking for houses, trying to find any sign of human movement ANYWHERE.

"Shit, where are they?!"

"Dead man," Frank replied. "Everyone is going to die! Nobody is safe from this shit man! We're all going to die!"

"Someone shut that kid up before I shoot him," Doc hissed.

"Hey," Zoey snapped. "Quiet down otherwise those zombies might hear us! Now isn't the time to be freaking out. We'll look out all the windows to see if we can find anyone." Doc sighed heavily as Amy, Zoey, Alex, and Kelsey dispersed throughout the house.

"Shit, looks like the house cross the street held up," Chris stated. Alan and Maria turned around then ran up to the window Chris was standing at. They looked out, seeing Nelson's arm waving to them on the other side of a window.

"Holy shit," Alan almost shouted. Nelson pointed somewhere else in the house mouthing something. Alan and Maria focused more on the lumberjack's mouth and made out the words 'Jamie is getting a radio.' Alan grinned with excitement, "Alright, we're getting out of here!"

"Sh," Maria snapped, placing her finger over her mouth. Alan rolled his eyes then 'zipped' his lips.

Alan mouthed the words: 'Where are the others?' Nelson shrugged.

"And ol Meredith's house held up too," Chris almost spat. Maria ran over to the side of the house, trying to push Chris aside as she stood up on a chair. She stared out, seeing Amy waving her arms from the window, trying to signal someone.

Maria mouthed: 'Is anyone else with you?'

Amy nodded and replied: 'Zoey and Doc. You?'

'Alan and Father Jackson.' Amy smiled then turned her head, waving to someone else. Zoey came into view from the window, looking back at Maria and grinning with relief. 'Jamie is getting a radio,' Maria mouthed. Zoey's eyes narrowed for a moment and Maria repeated herself. The brunette got it the second time apparently, as she whispered something to Amy, who then ran back into the house.

Zoey stood in the window and turned to Maria: 'How long?' Maria shrugged in response.

"Attention," Jamie said into the radio, "There are survivors here, repeat someone answer the damn radio!"

"Hello," a frantic voice shouted, "Hello? Sergeant there's someone still alive! Where are you survivors!?"

"We're in Oak Fields," Emilio told Jamie.

"Oka Fields," Jamie told the radio. "There's at least eleven of us, and you just sent a squad and they got torn to shreds! We need evac now!"

"Shit, alright we can have a new squad there in about ten or fifteen minutes. We'll keep you updated survivors. Just be ready whenever we show up alright?"

"Ten-four," Jamie said with relief in his tone. "Please hurry…"

"Roger survivors." Jamie's arms dropped and he felt like falling. They just might stand a chance of escaping this once and for all. Seeing more normal human faces everywhere, not having to worry about zombies around the corner, or Tanks chasing you, throwing cars and slabs of concrete at you. Jamie pulled himself out of his own mind and back to reality. They still needed to get out of this alive.

"Do we have anything else that can be used as a weapon? Anything at all?"

"I'm not sure," Emilio replied. "What would be your definition of a weapon?"

"Hey," Nelson's voice said with a gleeful tone. Emilio and Jamie turned, seeing the lumberjack found a chainsaw. "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Nelson headed back down the hallway, away from Emilio and Jamie's sight.

"I would classify that as a weapon," Jamie answered. "But basically anything blunt, or durable, or anything that can fire something?"

"We have some pots and pans and maybe some knives in the kitchen."

"That's better than nothing, come on!" Jamie and Emilio headed to the kitchen where Nelson was staring out of a window.

"They wanna know how long," Nelson said to Jamie.

"Ten to fifteen minutes," Jamie replied, not stopping or looking at the lumberjack.

Nelson turned around, mouthing very slowly the estimated time. Alan nodded then turned back into the house, to tell Maria before he looked back to the lumberjack. Nelson held up a finger, telling Alan to wait a minute. The lumberjack bent down and lifted up a chainsaw in plain view for Alan to see. The bulky survivor's mouth dropped and he gave Nelson, who only laughed, the finger. Maria mouthed the time to Zoey who nodded then ran back into the house.

"We've got to get ready," Zoey told everyone. "We only have ten or fifteen minutes and everyone here needs weapons."

"Grandma has some knives that I think we could use," Kelsey replied. "I don't think she's gonna be using them much anymore." Meredith shook her head then pulled a drawer open. Kelsey and Alex started grabbing all the knives they could, from big to small.

"That won't do you any good! They're going to kill us all," Frank shouted. "We're all going to die!"

"He's still human," Doc told himself, "Don't shoot him. You can't shoot him Doc because he's still human. No matter how annoying he is you cannot shoot him, no matter how badly you want to shoot him don't do it."

Emilio and Jamie started digging through the kitchen, finding a large skillet which was taken by Emilio. They found a large butcher knife and a few other smaller knives to give to the Jade and Andrew. They gave the knives to the younger survivors when the radio came on again.

"We're on the way survivors, hold tight. We'll be there in a few minutes!"


	23. Small Town Finale

Alan- machete, assault rifle, RPG

Doc- AK-47

Jamie- katana, submachine gun

Maria- baseball bat

Zoey- dual pistols, sniper rifle

--

The survivors all were in three different houses, split apart into makeshift teams. Jamie, Nelson and Andrew were in one house where they found two residents of Oak Fields: Emilio and Jade. Nelson had his fire axe on his back, and recently found a new love: a chainsaw. Jamie was walking all throughout the house with Nelson, pointing to areas outside that would be a good place to start running when they make a run for it. Emilio had just a skillet, and Jade and Andrew had kitchen knives. Nelson and Jamie discussed tactics like two generals in the army, shooting back alternatives to one another's plans.

In another house, Zoey had taken refuge with Doc and Amy in another house where they encountered the residents: Kelsey, Alex, their grandmother Meredith, and the terrified Frank. Meredith was acting like there weren't ravenous mutated carnivores right outside of her door and had already baked a pie and was now knitting! Doc and Zoey had been standing next to the front window, pointing out and discussing the various courses of action they could take.

In the last house was Alan, Father Jackson, and Maria with their new friend Chris. Alan sat on a chair, leaning back as he stared out the window, silently formulating his plan. Unfortunately, Alan had the hardest job since he was the only one with a firearm besides Chris, but he only had five shots of his shotgun left. Alan already told Chris that he'd clear a path and that Chris was going to watch over Maria and Father Jackson. When asked how he would clear a path, Alan just assured Chris to leave that to the machete wielding, zombie killing, machine.

"Attention survivors," the man over the radio announced. "We just dispatched three armored vehicles to pick you guys up. They'll be there in ten minutes. Is the evac zone cleared of hostiles?"

"Negative," Jamie said, picking up the radio. "Tell them not to enter the town, but to stay close enough to where we can run to them quickly enough."

"Roger survivors, one minute." Jamie put the radio back down as Nelson was looking through the window. It seemed as if the lumberjack was counting the zombies outside, which was easily hundreds of them. "Alright survivors, they're going to need an extra minute whenever then show up. They're going to swing their ends around so you can get in and they can take off quickly. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," Jamie replied. "Thanks a bunch."

"Hey, there's one of them military vehicles right there," Nelson pointed out. "Got swarmed by zombies, but I think we could use it if we need to." Jamie walked up and peaked out the window, seeing the vehicle that Nelson was pointing to.

"I don't think we're gonna need that. They said they were sending three of those honking vehicles."

"Fair enough, so when do we get out and kick some ass?"

"Whenever they're five minutes away," Jamie replied. "That way we'll get this horde's attention, and hopefully they won't swarm the army whenever they show up."

"Damn, you thought of everything. Do we tell the others?"

"Nope, if we get all those zombies on us at one time then the others can either make a break for it, or ambush those bastards." Nelson nodded, looking around at the stumbling zombies. "If they ask when we move, just tell them as soon as they heard noise." Nelson chuckled then continued staring out into the horde, looking for weak spots or something.

Zoey was staring out the window with Doc, both trying to see if there was any news or plan from Jamie. Behind them, Meredith shuffled her feet towards them. "Now, now dears, if you're going to leave then at least eat some pie."

"Grandma, we're going to leave soon," Kelsey said. "I don't think pie is what they're thinking of."

"Oh no I can't go with you." This caused everyone to look over at the wrinkled old woman. "I'll just slow you down if you try to bring me."

"Grandma you can't be serious," Alex exclaimed. "We're not going to leave you."

"Sweetheart I can hardly get across my house without my arthritis acting up. How am I supposed to run faster than a bunch of them zombies?" Kelsey and Alex now both had tears in their eyes. "Don't worry about your old grandma. I've lived a good life. Just promise me you'll both get out alive." Both Kelsey and Alex were both too choked up to speak and they could only nod in response.

"I promise they'll get out of here," Doc told Meredith.

"Fine, fine, now let's have pie!" The elderly woman shuffled her feet back across the room towards her still warm pie.

Time seemed to crawl. They all knew that this was their chance to escape this hell once and for all. Everyone was on edge, nerves eating away at them as they all messed with something. Jamie was on edge most. He was basically leading this makeshift battle without telling the rest of his team. Was it a good idea? At this point it didn't matter as the radio cracked back on.

"Six minutes survivors…" Jamie turned to Nelson who walked up to the door, chainsaw in hand.

"Get ready…"

"Wait," Andrew snapped. Everyone turned to the teen, all impatient and tense. "Jamie I'm…I'm sorry for trying to fuck Zoey." Jamie's eye twitched. He didn't know if he was actually apologizing, feeling remorse or fear that he might die, or if he was just being a smart ass.

"Wait until we get out of here to apologize kid. Go Nelson." The lumberjack pulled back on the chainsaw's string once, twice, before it roared to life.

"Knock, knock," Nelson said quietly, almost sinisterly before kicking the door open. The roar of the chainsaw behind the door already had zombies running for the house, but the door flying open caused a large number of them to fall back, causing a domino effect. "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" Nelson shouted as he sawed through countless zombies, walking through the mob of infected monsters.

All the other houses heard the commotion and snapped to attention. Doc got up and opened the door, noticing that most of the zombies were focused across the street. "Go, go, god damn it go!" Zoey went out first, firing into the ocean of zombies. Kelsey and Alex hugged their grandmother tearfully before running outside with Amy right behind them. "You coming," Doc asked Frank.

"We're all going to die…"

"Crazy fucker!"

"Remember to close the door," Meredith called to Doc. The blonde stopped, looking at the old lady to see if she was serious. Doc took in a whiff of air, smelling something…unusual. Doc closed the door once he identified the smell, and shortly after came to the conclusion the old woman had come to.

Alan busted the door open then ran forward, gunning through zombies with his assault rifle. "Fuck," the survivor shouted as he realized that he already made a huge mistake. While the zombies were all focused on the two teams in the street, Alan could've snuck around the back with Maria. "Chris, switch me weapons!" The two survivors threw their weapons to one another, catching them perfectly. "Take these two and sneak around the back!" Alan ran forward into the zombies he already alerted, pulling his machete out and screaming with rage as he charged. Chris did as ordered, leading Maria and Jackson round the back of the houses.

Alan screamed as he spun around, smashing his elbow into the side of the first zombie. The survivor brought his machete down on the next zombie's head, killing it instantly. Alan continued rampaging through the zombies, slowly but surely making his way to the rest of the group.

"Zoey," Alan called out before chopping another zombie. The brunette turned around, seeing Alan hacking his way through a horde. "Maria's around the back of the houses!" Zoey nodded then quickly ran between the houses to the back.

Once she was behind one of the houses, Zoey saw Maria and Jackson being led on by Chris, who she didn't know at the time. "This way," Zoey shouted as she then took point, running ahead of the group.

"COME ON YA SONS A BITCHS," Nelson shouted as he continued to saw away the zombies that got near him. Suddenly, a fog horn went off, drawing the attention of a large number of zombies. The infected turned to Meredith's house then stampeded towards the house.

"Grandma," Alex yelled with a tearful voice.

"Come on," Doc screamed. "She's buying us time!"

"Let's move people," Jamie shouted. "Move, move, move!"

Inside of Meredith's house, the old woman continued to blow the fog horn, getting her entire house surrounded by the infected. Once she was sure that her entire house was surrounded, she dropped the horn and walked over to the stove. The burners were on, but no fire was lit. Her entire house was filled with propane. Meredith pulled out a box of cigarettes then put on in her mouth.

"If my grandkids saw me doing this," Meredith told herself before chuckling. The old lady pulled out a lighter and pulled it up to her mouth as the zombies started breaking through her windows and doors. With one flick, her house went up in a massive explosion.

The enormous blast caused the survivors to stop for a moment and turn around, seeing a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire. "GRANDMA!!" Kelsey fell to her knees and started sobbing into her hands while Alex tried to remain strong.

"Listen kids," Doc began. "If you want to honor her sacrifice then you're going to get to that damn evac vehicle, and you're going to get the hell out of this fucking place for your grandmother alright!? Now is NOT the time to be crying!" Alex and Kelsey both gave Doc the same sad, angry look, but they both knew he was right. Kelsey got up and turned back down the road.

"Let's get moving people," Jamie screamed again. The large band of survivors ran down the road, hearing the cry of more zombies. "Wait, shit, where's Zoey!?"

"She's with Maria," Alan shouted back, running past Jamie. "She'll be fine!" Just then, Father Jackson, Chris and Maria scrambled into the streets as Zoey slowly backed up, firing into the oncoming zombies that poured from between the houses. "Or maybe not…"

Jamie ran ahead, firing into the zombies with his submachine gun, spraying down zombies. Maria stood still, waiting for Zoey to catch up, but the stubborn brunette was slowly backing up, trying to gun down as many zombies as possible. In a flash, Amy was next to Zoey, popping zombies one by one with her dual pistols. Doc, Alan, and Nelson all ran up to Maria, circling her protectively while shooting or hacking zombies away from her. Chris had stuck close to Father Jackson, firing short bursts into zombies that pursued them. Father Jackson wandered off a little too far and was pounced by a Hunter. Chris turned around at the sound of the priest's yelp and saw that the Hunter already tore a good chunk of Jackson's hip out. Chris moved to shoot the Hunter, but in that instant, the zombie bit out Father Jackson's throat and began snacking on him. In a fit of rage, Chris still fired at the Hunter, eventually killing it. The hooded zombie slumped forward, lying motionless on top of Jackson's body. Chris turned around then started firing at the zombies, screaming and yelling to get their attention.

"This is going to hell fast," Alan shouted to no one in particular as he saw Chris straying ahead of the group.

Despite this, Chris seemed to be getting a good number of zombies to chase after him. What the survivor didn't notice was a Charger popping from around the corner of a house then sprinting at him. The large arm of the Charger cracked painfully into Chris' back and carried the survivor through the door of a nearby garage. The zombies that he got the attention of all flooded into the garage and Chris' agonizing screams were all that was heard. Jade and Andrew stuck towards the rear, knowing that their weapons weren't going to be useful. Jade panicked then ran away, breaking off from the group.

"Where are you going," Andrew shouted over the gunfire. Jade didn't pay attention and continued to a four way intersection where she was crushed by a flying car. Andrew's eyes widened with horror as he saw a Tank coming around the corner. "TANK!"

Everyone's heads snapped to the side, seeing the rampaging monster. Jamie turned his attention to the monster, hosing it with bullets as he broke off with the group.

"What do you think you're doing," Zoey shrieked.

"Take care of the others," was Jamie's answer as he fired at the Tank, running further into the town.

Zoey could've screamed if it weren't for the horde of zombies coming at her. They were slaughtering the zombies, no doubt about it, but what good was it if they never stopped? And the only ones with guns now were herself, Amy, and Doc. Nelson was going crazy with his chainsaw, and everyone else was hanging back or dead.

Jamie scrambled around the corner of a house just as a Tank smashed the opposite corner of the same house. The survivor ran towards a black car, using it for support as sweat poured down his face and he panted before he sprayed bullets into the Tank. The monster didn't seem to be bothered as it continued towards Jamie, lifting one of its massive arms to smash Jamie. The survivor quickly dove to the side as the Tank smashed the hood of the car, causing the back end to pop up and smack the massive zombie in the face. Jamie rolled on the ground before spinning around in a crouched position, unleashing a barrage of bullets into the Tank's stomach. The Tank literally tore the car in half then came running at Jamie. The survivor stopped firing then started running while reloading his gun. Usually there was at least four other guns firing at a Tank, and all Jamie had was a submachine gun. Now would be a good time for that RPG Alan's been carrying around this whole damn time. Jamie then ran up another car, standing on the roof as the Tank came running at it. The survivor started hosing the Tank with bullets. The massive zombie once again smashed the hood of the car just as Jamie jumped for it. The survivor rolled across someone's yard as the car went flying into the air, spinning end over end. The Tank only roared with rage at Jamie's constant survival.

"If I survive this," Jamie told himself as he got to his feet. "I swear I'll pay for that person's car."

The large band of survivors had killed the zombies to the point where they made a break for it. Doc would stop and turn to fire into the zombies while the others ran past him, but was quick to rejoin the ground. Zoey had, apparently, been appointed the leader as she had taken point since Jamie broke off, heading through the streets and to the edge of town. Suddenly, someone screamed. Zoey turned around, seeing Emilio being pulled back by a Smoker on a rooftop. The brunette pulled out her sniper rifle and fired at the Smoker, killing it with one shot. Emilio quickly tried to unwrap the tongue from his body, but was quickly swarmed by zombies, punching, stomping, or chewing him alive.

"Keep moving," Zoey shouted to her group. There wasn't much use for mourning over the dead at the moment, unless you wanted to be one of them. The rest of the group quickly followed Zoey's lead. The got to the edge of town, seeing several meters away the military vehicles pulling up. "THEY'RE HERE!! We've got to hurry it up! Move people!" Zoey turned around and started firing wildly with her pistols to allow the others to get a head start. Alan ran behind Maria, picking up the small girl and putting her on his back.

"Haul ass," Alan screamed.

Doc stopped next to Zoey, giving her additional firepower as the two started gunning down zombies. Suddenly, a car flew over Doc and Zoey's head. The two looked to their left, seeing Jamie running down the street firing at not one, but two Tanks.

"How the fuck did you pull that off," Doc screamed with a shrill tone.

"RUN," Jamie hollered. Zoey and Doc fired at the Tanks for a moment before running out of town. Jamie didn't bother trying to shoot either Tank, and focused on getting away from the towering giants alive. One of the Tanks though, did have various bleeding holes and one or two gashes, leaving one to guess that it was the first one Jamie lured off. "GO, GO, GO!!"

"We're going as fast as we can," Doc shouted as he stopped and turned around to fire at the Tanks and zombies.

One of the military vehicles was already ahead of the rest, having its rear end sticking out towards the survivors. "GET IN," Alan screamed, his face red from fatigue and shouting. Andrew got in first, panting heavily while staring out into the others fighting off the zombies. "Tell me they got weapons," Alan shouted as he was forced to pull out his shotgun with only three shots. The bulky survivor clenched his shotgun tightly as he saw his three teammates running towards him, bringing one hell of a welcome company.

"Alan!" Said survivor turned his head, seeing Andrew holding out a grenade launcher to him.

"Kid you knew just what I wanted for Christmas!" Alan took the grenade launcher, dropping his shotgun then ran ahead of the rest of the group who, for whatever reason, didn't get in the vehicles yet. "Hit the deck!" Alan squeezed the trigger and nothing came out. "What the!?" Alan kept squeezing the trigger, and still nothing happened except a constant clicking noise. Ever so smartly, Alan looked down the barrel and then snapped the gun open, seeing that it wasn't loaded. "FUCK! Find a grenade kid!" Andrew quickly scrambled in the back, trying to find something.

"You idiot," Maria shouted as she grabbed the strap of the RPG and pulled it down. Alan was pulled down with it. "Fire this thing!"

"Right!" Alan pulled his RPG off his back and crouched down, putting the back end of it on his shoulder. He looked through the scope carefully to line up the shot.

"Wait," Doc shouted to Zoey and Jamie. "Is Alan…?" The bulky survivor squeezed the trigger, firing the rocket from his RPG. "DAMN IT ALAN!!"

"Hit the deck," Jamie shouted as he fell to his stomach. Doc and Zoey only moved to the side quickly as the rocket whizzed past them. The rocket hit one of the Tanks' arm, causing a massive explosion that took out both of the monsters and a large number of zombies as well.

"WHOO! Suck that bitches!" Jamie groaned as he tried to push himself back up. Doc and Zoey ran up and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on Jamie," Zoey said encouragingly. "You're seeing this thing through damn it!"

"Right," Jamie replied with a painful moan. "Let's go!"

"Alright, everyone in," Alan shouted. "Get in now!" The survivor turned around, seeing a Boomer coming around the side of the vehicle right behind Maria. "WATCH OUT!!" Maria spun around, seeing the Boomer just before it vomited on her.

"AUGH! GROSS!" Alan ran up and knocked the Boomer away before shooting it. The screaming of a horde was heard, and they started coming again in more numbers.

"Shit, I didn't sign up to fight the whole fucking world," Alan shouted. "Everyone in the vehicle now!" Alan started forcing the others into the vehicles, putting Nelson in the same vehicle as Andrew. "Come on Amy, get your fine ass in next!" Alan escorted her Amy into the same vehicle, then stepped aside as Kelsey practically flung herself into it. Suddenly, a Jockey ran atop of the vehicle and jumped on Alex's face.

"Alex," Kelsey shrieked.

"Stay there," Alan shouted before chasing after him. However, something else took Alan's attention as he looked to the side of one of the vehicles, seeing a Spitter's rear end stick out of it, grabbing at the driver inside. "FUCK!" Alan ran up then pulled the Spitter out, acid dripping from its mouth. Alan punched the zombie in the face before he blasted it in the back of the head.

"ALEX!!" Alan looked over, seeing the Jockey pulling Alex into the center of a horde where he got torn to pieces. If not for Nelson, Kelsey would've jumped out of the vehicle to go save her brother.

"Go," Alan shouted to the driver, banging on his door. The driver gave a reluctant look at Alan, "I SAID GO!" The driver nodded once before sending the armored vehicle flying down the road.

"Alan," Amy shouted as the ramp in the back closed.

"Don't worry baby," Alan called out, "I'm indestructible!" The ramp closed, cutting off Alan's visibility of the others.

"Hurry up," the other driver called from a rolled down window. Suddenly, something destroyed the front of the heavily armored vehicle, causing it to fly down the road. A Tank looked at Alan the screamed with rage.

"FUCK YOU, YOU BIG PIECE OF SHIT!!"

Alan went running head first at the Tank who rampaged at the survivor as well. Alan stuck the barrel of his shotgun forward, wedging it into the Tank's mouth before firing his last shell. The Tank screamed then tired to swat Alan away. The survivor pulled out his only remaining weapon: the machete, then stabbed it into the Tank's midsection. The monster screamed in rage and raised its arms, ready to crush Alan into paste. Before that could happen, Jamie stabbed his katana into the Tank's back, piercing the monster's whole body. Zoey meanwhile had gotten a hold of the bile covered Maria and brought her into the back of the vehicle with Doc. The Tank gurgled weakly before Alan and Jamie both stabbed into the monster from two ends with their blades. The Tank groaned then fell over, dead.

"Alan, start driving," Zoey shouted. Alan ran to the driver's side and opened the door, throwing the dead driver out. The survivor slammed the door and floored on the gas, just as Jamie jumped in. Alan closed the boarding ramp in the back once everyone was inside.

"Shit, Maria are you okay," Doc asked, trying to wipe the bile off. Maria was coughing furiously and her eyes were red. "Maria, can you see us right now?"

"Ye-yeah I…" Maria then threw up on the flooring. Doc looked at the puke intently, noticing the strange mixture of green and yellow. "I'm fine…"

"Alan, we need to get somewhere safe so we can make sure Maria is okay," Jamie shouted.

"Sure thing," Alan snapped as he opened the little viewing slot to the back. "I'll just pull over and invite those zombie bastards for tea and cookies!"

"I'm not saying now, I'm saying sometime soon!" Doc quickly unfolded the map and started examining it with almost a subtle fury.

"Head right onto the highway then take the second exit," Doc shouted.

"You want to go sight seeing Doc? We gotta catch up with the others!"

"JUST FUCKING DO IT ALAN!" Everyone was quiet. They just escaped from the horde, they were relatively safe. They should be rejoicing, happy, but Doc's outburst seemed to insinuate something else. "Maria, stay with me. Can you hear me?"

"Y-yeah…I'm kinda lightheaded…" Maria fell over, but was quickly caught by Zoey.

"What's wrong Doc," Jamie questioned. Doc stared at Jamie, eyes filled with worry.

"Yeah man, you usually never scream at me like that when our lives aren't at stake," Alan added.

"Just get on the highway and go up the second exit as quickly as possible Alan," Doc muttered quietly. "I'll explain there…" Alan pressed the pedal to the metal and the survivors flew down the road, leaving a horde of pursuing zombies in the dust.

**THE SURVIVORS HAVE ESCAPED!**

* * *

Alright, since there was some confusion in the last chapter about the survivors, here are the stats for ALL of the survivors in the last two chapters. They're in no real order, just the ones that came to my mind first obviously lol

Jamie- submachine gun, katana

Alan- shotgun, machete, RPG

Zoey- dual pistols, sniper rifle

Doc- AK-47

Maria- baseball bat

Father Jackson (KIA)

Nelson- chainsaw, axe

Amy- dual pistols

Andrew- butcher knife

Alex- butcher knife (KIA)

Kelsey- butcher knife

Chris- assault rifle (KIA)

Jade- butcher knife (KIA)

Emilio- skillet (KIA)


	24. Epilogue

**Please read the author's note at the end!!!!!**

Alan- machete

Doc- AK-47

Jamie- katana, submachine gun

Maria- incapacitated

Zoey- dual pistols, sniper rifle

--

The survivors cruised down a highway and Alan pulled up the second exit like Doc instructed. The gang was surprised to see a massive CEDA building before them, but it had long since been abandoned. Doc without worry pushed the doors open and then walked into what was formerly a massive laboratory. Alan carried in a still unconscious Maria on his back, following Zoey and Jamie into the lab.

"Put her on this bed," Doc instructed. Alan walked over, gently lying Maria on the bed. The little girl was sweating and panting, and on top of that she was growing pale. Doc pulled up some equipment from all around, plugging it into the wall. It started to look like Maria was intensive care. "Can someone find the power?"

Jamie nodded then started looking around the room before finding a switch on the far end. The lights came on and the rest of the power in the room came to life with a slight humming noise. Doc walked to the other end of the room, opening something that looked like a refrigerator. He pulled out a bag of clear liquid and another bag of light red fluids. Doc hooked each one of them up to a stand, letting them hang as he poked a tube into one end of the bag and gently injecting a needle into Maria's arm. The black haired girl made no reaction to the needle going into her arm. The fluids started to flow down the tube and into Maria's body.

"What's wrong with her Doc," Jamie asked.

The blonde sighed heavily before messing with some monitoring equipment, "She might be infected…" Jamie's eyes widened as Zoey only gasped with fear.

"What," Alan asked quietly. "How could she be infected…?"

"Before it became an epidemic, it was believed that the Green Flu could be spread through bites, so CEDA and the army put more emphasis on armor and protection from bites. Well, the infection started mutating, and the ways Green Flu spread because more wide spread. If someone inhales too much smoke from a Smoker, they could become infected, if they accidently ingest Boomer bile, they could become infected."

"But she didn't ingest any of it," Alan snapped.

"It could've been absorbed through the skin, gotten in her eyes or in her mouth somehow," Doc replied quietly. "That's why I think she threw up back in the vehicle; her body was trying to get rid of the infection as best as it could…"

"So what happens to her now," Jamie asked, terrified of the answer. Doc sighed heavily, staring down at the ground.

"You notice how there aren't any zombie children? There's a reason for that. Kids' immune systems are weaker than adults. I saw a few cases back at Mercy Hospital. Kids would be infected, all the normal symptoms like a normal adults and they'd turn into a zombie. But…the infection would eventually be too much and it would kill them within an hour or two…"

"No," Zoey whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

"There has to be something we can do," Jamie snapped at Doc. "You brought us here for a reason right?"

"Well," Doc began before he sat in a rolling chair. "I could try to make a vaccine or an anti-virus that kills the Green Flu. But I have nothing to go off of aside from my samples of Boomer bile and a bunch of these chemicals which I have no idea what they do."

"Well what the fuck were the people here doing," Alan exclaimed. "Maybe they have documentation or something lying around that can give us a head start! How much time do we need?"

"Average time for the infection to spread through a child's body is around twenty four hours. After that…she won't survive more than a few hours after that."

"Fuck," Alan cursed as he started going through desks and drawers.

Jamie and Zoey split up in the room and started going through papers and files scattered all around. Doc sighed heavily, staring at Maria who was breathing heavily now. Zoey threw a few files off of a nearby desk, but found a stack of tapes with dates on them.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Everyone's heads snapped towards Zoey's direction. The brunette came running up with an armful of tapes. "These have dates and stuff on them. They have to be progress reports or something right?" Doc quickly looked around for a TV, finding one up in a far corner of the room.

"Put it in, play it," Doc ordered. Zoey quickly ran towards the TV, sliding in the first tape. Doc leaned forward along with Zoey to watch the tapes. Jamie would've leaned over Doc's shoulder as well, if not for him seeing Alan off on the other side of the room. Jamie headed towards Alan who had his back turned, running his hands over his head.

"You okay," Jamie asked.

"No," Alan replied. "We were supposed to get out of here, this was supposed to be it! If it wasn't for me, Maria would've been safe, she wouldn't be in this position right now!" Alan sent a ton of papers sliding off a desk, screaming with frustration. Zoey and Doc turned around, seeing Alan walking around in frustration. "I'm so fucking stupid! It's my fucking fault!"

"No one blames you Alan," Jamie said assuring his friend. "Anyone could've made the same mistake."

"Not you," Alan exclaimed, almost accusingly of Jamie. "You managed to keep her safe, you managed to keep ALL of us alive! The one time one of our lives is at stake, and it had to be Maria…this…this bullshit happens!"

"Shit happens Alan. Five people died just a few minutes ago, I couldn't save them either."

"Yeah, because you weren't there to lead us! You ran off with that Tank hot on your ass, trying to get it away from everyone else! That's you, always the selfless leader who runs head first into danger and manages to get everyone else out alive!"

"Alan, you got everyone else out alive," Jamie shot back. "The others who got away, they're safe because of you and your efforts."

"Yeah, and Maria, she's going to become a fucking zombie now because of me!"

"Hey, she's not going to-," Alan screamed, throwing a computer against a wall before placing his hand on his forehead. For the first time ever, Jamie saw Alan fighting back tears. "Alan…she's not going to become a zombie. Doc is going to do everything he can for her alright?"

"And what if she doesn't make it," Alan asked. "In all honesty I think we've been getting lucky before. A lot of people just died because of us Jamie, and now something really bad is about to happen! But what if she does turn? What do we do then huh?!"

"She's not going to," was all Jamie said. "Just take a breather and stop thinking negatively alright?"

"I'm not," Alan snapped. "I'm thinking realistically! If they couldn't make a cure for this damn virus, what makes you think one fucking doctor in a shitty abandoned lab is going to make a cure!?"

"Alan, just get the fuck out of here right now to calm the fuck down!" Alan's jaw tensed up before he walked into the next room, screaming as he threw and broke more things. Jamie shook his head then walked towards Maria, sitting next to her bed. Doc and Zoey turned back to the video, listening to the recorded videos. Maria sighed heavily, opening her heavy eyelids to look at Jamie. "Hey there," the dark haired brunette said with a smile. "How ya feeling?"

"Sick," Maria replied. "Where are we? What happened?"

"We're in an abandoned CEDA lab," Jamie answered as he grabbed Maria's hand. "We're just taking a break here…" Maria looked at her arm, noticing the pale skin and dark veins. Her paling blue eyes followed tubes from her arms up to little plastic bags hanging on stands next to her bed. Maria was quiet, staring at the bags for a moment.

"I'm infected aren't I…?" Jamie clutched Maria's hand tightly. "If I'm infected why don't you guys just kill me, or leave me?"

"Don't talk like that," Jamie hissed, trying to be as kind sounding as possible. "We're going to work on something, we're going to try to make you better okay?" Maria smiled weakly, causing Jamie's heart to sink. "You're gonna be fine okay…?" The black haired girl only let her eyes fall before she looked over, seeing Doc and Zoey watching the documentation, pointing and whispering quietly.

"What are they doing…?"

"Those are recorded documents I guess," Jamie replied. "They're trying to find something to give us a head start to make a vaccine or something."

"What if they don't find anything?"

"They'll find something," Jamie answered sharply. Maria sighed, turning back to Jamie.

"Where's Alan?" In response, something in the other room made a loud crashing sound. Maria stared past Jamie, looking into the distance, "He's taking this pretty hard huh?" Jamie smirked a bit before brushing a strand of Maria's hair out of her face. "Jamie…if I don't make it-,"

"You're going to make it," Jamie responded sternly. "Don't think like that okay?"

"Just let me speak…" Jamie remained quiet and Maria continued. "I…I just wanted to apologize. For the longest time I felt like I was a problem, a burden because I wasn't immune. I felt like you all went so far out of your way and got hurt just to defend me because I couldn't defend myself. I'm so sorry for all those problems I caused…"

"You weren't a burden Maria. You were…you were what kept us human. If it weren't for you, we'd be doing stupid, daredevil shit like Alan does all the time. You're this group's main foundation. Without you…I don't know what we'd all be."

"We got something," Zoey shouted. "They were working on a vaccine that kills the virus in the early stages!"

"Does it work," Jamie asked.

"It had a sixty-forty percent success rate," Doc replied. "The forty being the success…"

"It's better than nothing though," Zoey argued.

"And those were for adults with stronger, more durable immune systems. Maria is a small girl with a small, new immune system that isn't as strong as adults. I'd give her about a seventy-thirty success rate."

"Doc," Jamie growled, looking to the awakened girl. Doc looked at Maria then sighed heavily.

"I've got to learn when to shut my fucking mouth…"

"How does it work," Maria asked.

"Well this is all what I got from these former scientists, and I'll put it simply without boring you with all the medical crap. Basically the Green Flu is a mutating virus that adapts and evolves, according to these guys. Each person's immune systems are different. Sometimes the immune system isolates the Green Flu, or in some rare cases destroys it completely. When the Green Flu finds a weaker immune system, they just turn the person into a normal zombie. Sometimes the immune system will put up a fight, and the Green Flu has to adapt to destroy the immune system and infect the person."

"So it's like a normal flu," Jamie asked.

"Yeah, but unlike the normal flu the Green Flu adapts and mutates and sometimes it goes too far and creates special infected. Again, this is all the hypotheses of these now dead scientists. One thing that was absolute though is that their vaccine killed the Green Flu in its early stages."

"So how does it kill the Green Flu?"

"It's like most any medicine," Doc continued. "It works with the immune system, sometimes boosting its effectiveness to fight off the foreign virus. The results varied with each test subject though. Some people threw up, others had excessive urinating, some secreted unusual waste, some sweated the virus out, and a few rare cases didn't have any side affects whatsoever."

"What happens if it doesn't work," Maria asked. Doc sighed, looking to the floor.

"If it doesn't work, the Green Flu will just absorb the vaccine and continue to mutate. It won't speed up the infection and it won't make it more potent. It basically won't do anything if it doesn't work."

"Well," Maria sighed as she looked away from her team. "I've got nothing to lose…let's do it." Doc nodded then rolled off to some nearby chemicals. Zoey and Jamie stayed by Maria's side to support her in her hour of need.

Time was going in an excruciatingly slow crawl. A single minute seemed to last forever, and an hour seemed to be an eternity. Doc was flying around the lab with vials, samples and papers, muttering to himself, going over all of the other scientists' findings as he experimented. Zoey and Jamie held Maria's hands, talking to her and asking her questions to make sure she was alright. So far there were no obvious signs of infection, aside from Maria's physical appearance. Doc rolled over every now and again to run his own tests, take small blood samples, and anything else to make sure everything would go as best as they possibly could. After a few hours Alan walked in, looking as though he was a scolded child. The bulky survivor approached Maria, smiling wearily at the infected girl. Maria looked over and smiled at Alan as brightly as she could

"Hey," Alan said.

"Hiya," Maria replied back. Alan looked to Jamie for a moment before turning back to Maria.

"Can…can I have a minute to talk to her," Alan asked Jamie.

"Sure," Jamie answered as he stood up with Zoey. The two brunettes walked off and Alan took a seat next to Maria, who was still smiling.

"I'm uh…I'm sorry Maria…"

"Don't blame yourself for this. There was nothing you could've done. That fat ass Boomer was a sneaky one." Maria laughed weakly before it switched over to coughing. Alan placed his hand on Maria's bed, staring at the young girl.

"I could've put you in the evac vehicle first, I should've made sure you were in there first! I knew you weren't immune, but I was focused on Jamie, Doc, and Zoey, I wanted to make sure they survived and I wasn't thinking…"

"Trust me Alan: I wouldn't want to be in that evac vehicle anyway…" Alan looked up to Maria, eyes filled with shock. "If I was then that would mean I couldn't be around you all. I'd rather be here than without the rest of you guys. Besides, I wouldn't have stayed anyway. If it came down to it I would've gotten out and fired that RPG myself. I always thought it would've been more dramatic when you fired it. Like you would've impaled a Witch with it then fired it into a Tank." Alan laughed a bit, wiping away a tear that rolled down his cheek. "Please don't blame yourself Alan…"

"I can't help it," Alan replied. "If it were Jamie instead of me you would've been fine."

"You don't know that…"

"I do. We both know he wouldn't have taken any chances and would've thrown you into that vehicle by your shoelaces if he had to."

"Well," Maria sighed. "Not much we can do about it now. If the worst does happen though Alan, you can't blame yourself for this okay?" Alan opened his mouth, but Maria slapped her small, pale hand over his mouth. "You can't blame yourself. You've got to be the normal, life threatening heart attack this team needs." Alan sighed through his nose then nodded. Maria slowly pulled her hand away.

"Hey," Doc said as he rolled next to Maria's bed. "Need another blood sample real quick." Doc gently injected a needle into the little girl's arm. Alan looked at Maria, seeing no reaction to the needle on her face.

"You don't feel that," Alan asked. Maria shook her head with a confused look that told Alan she didn't know why either.

"She's on a special type of pain killer," Doc explained. "If she wasn't, the infection would've killed her from pain alone. Alright, that should be enough." Doc pulled the needle out, looking at the darkened blood in the vial. "You feeling okay? Feeling any irritability?"

"I'm not that much of an ass Doc," Alan snapped.

"I'm not saying that. Irritability, anger, mood swings, they're all signs of the infection. I'm surprised that you haven't shown any of these signs yet." Maria smiled with weary pride. Doc returned the smile before rolling off to his test tubes.

Jamie and Zoey had been exploring the lab, making sure the doors were secure and that there weren't any way that infected could come in. The last thing they needed when curing Maria was a horde of zombies or a Tank busting in. They entered a room that was filled with computers and monitors, dried blood, but nothing else. Jamie entered the room first, shining his flashlight back and forth throughout the room.

"You think Maria is going to be okay," Zoey asked, breaking the silence.

"She'll be fine," Jamie replied. "She's tough, and Doc is working his ass off to find a cure." Zoey smirked a bit, watching Jamie looking through the room with no real point. She knew that he was just thinking optimistically and didn't even want to consider the alternative. It wasn't like Jamie to not think realistically, but considering the situation…

"You don't blame yourself do you?" Jamie froze in place, into empty space. Worry washed over Zoey's face as she took a step towards Jamie. "Do you blame yourself…?"

"No," Jamie spat out quickly.

"You have nothing to blame yourself for," Zoey snapped. "You weren't there, there wasn't a thing you could've done!" Jamie slammed his hand on a nearby desk in rage, causing Zoey to stop dead in her tracks.

"Just because I wasn't there doesn't mean it wasn't my fault. I didn't have to run off to distract that Tank. All of us could've teamed up on it and-,"

"All of us," Zoey repeated, her tone high with anger. "The only people with a gun were me, Doc, Alan, and whoever the hell that other guy with a shotgun was! What was everyone else supposed to do, jump on a Tank and stab the crap out of it like you do? You made the right choice to lure that Tank away. That's not why Maria is here though."

"It's because I wasn't there to defend her," Jamie said quietly. "I shouldn't have-,"

"So it's just a lack of trust in Alan," Zoey questioned.

"No, I do but I—I just…I don't know…" Jamie fell back heavily into a chair. Zoey stood in silence, staring at Jamie who remained motionless. "I shouldn't be acting like this should I?"

"No," Zoey replied. She walked up and took a seat across from Jamie. "Right now we can't afford to play the blame game. You should know better than the rest of us that Maria needs us now more than ever." Jamie smiled and looked up at Zoey.

"You're right, obviously." The two brunettes stood up and headed for the door. "When did you become the one to talk me through problems?"

"I learned from the best," Zoey answered with a smirk before nudging Jamie with her hip. Jamie smirked as he and Zoey continued down the hall.

Back in the main lab, Maria was sleeping, Alan was passing Doc different chemicals and scientific tools. Doc was looking into a small dish of Maria's blood, squirting some strange syringe full of liquid onto it. After a minute of staring, Doc slammed his hands on the counter.

"Fuck!" Everyone jumped at Doc's outburst. Jamie and Zoey looked at the slumbering Maria who only remained still. Doc sighed then threw the dish to the side, getting a new one. "I swear these bastards must've been the next best thing to Jesus…"

"What's wrong," Alan asked. "You said they had it to where the virus was being destroyed in the early stages!"

"Yeah, but evidently that was before we had the good ol' mutations like Smokers, Hunters, Tanks, Witches, all that stuff. This obviously killed the Green Flu when it first broke out, but NO, these idiots couldn't just go into overkill when it came to killing a freaking virus! I'm no scientist, but if an epidemic like this were to break out I'd be throwing all my solutions into overkill!"

"Doc," Jamie hissed. "Maria's asleep."

"She's passed out," Doc muttered. "She just fell asleep awhile ago. Trust me, a Tank could bust into this place and she'd be sound asleep."

Zoey walked up and sat next to Maria's bed, placing her hand gently on the little girl's forehead. Suddenly, Maria shot up, screaming in anger. Zoey fell back out of her chair with fear as Maria jumped out of the bed, clutching her head while screaming. Zoey quickly got up and ran next to Maria.

"What's wrong," Zoey asked. "Maria what's wrong?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Maria shoved Zoey back with surprising strength. The brunette was thrown onto her back while Maria screamed with anger, looking around at Alan and Jamie who was now on either side of her. "WHAT?! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Doc walked up with a syringe, pulling the cap off with his mouth.

"There's the irritability," Doc stated. "Hold her down."

Jamie and Alan were reluctant for fear of hurting Maria. Finally Jamie went forward first, wrapping his arms around Maria's upper body. To Jamie's shock, Maria was getting dangerously close to breaking his grip on her. Alan ran up, and wrapped his arms just above Jamie's.

"Get her legs," Alan ordered. Jamie moved down, holding onto Maria's ankles with all his strength. The little girl thrashed and wrestled, trying to break free. Doc walked up, pulled up Maria's sleeve, swabbed a part of her arm then stabbed the needle in. Upon injection, Maria's eyes fluttered before closing completely. Jamie and Alan relaxed their grip, the former lifting Maria onto the table. "What the fuck was that?"

"Her getting pissed off out of nowhere or her almost breaking your guys' grip? Both are results of the infection. We've got to strap her down now…" Alan and Jamie moved on both sides of the bed, pulling out the bed's belts and strapped Maria down without hurting her. Doc moved back to work, Alan stayed next to Maria, and Jamie went over to help Zoey.

"You okay?" Zoey groaned in response, looking over at Maria.

"Shit she's a tough little girl." Jamie put his hand on Zoey's back as she stood up. "I'm fine," she assured Jamie. "How's she?"

"Doc said her anger and strength came from the infection in her body," Jamie replied. "She's changing…"

A few minutes later, Alan went back to helping Doc while Jamie and Zoey sat next to Maria's bed. Maria woke up after a few moments, groggy and tired.

"Hey," Zoey said with a smile. "How're you feeling?"

"I have a headache," Maria moaned. "And my body feels sore…" Jamie and Zoey looked up at each other.

"Anything else," Jamie asked.

"I'm hungry, and tired…" Maria coughed for a bit then continued. "And my eyes feel like they're burning…" Zoey moved to stand up, but was stopped by Jamie's hand on her shoulder.

"I'll go," Jamie offered before he walked off towards Doc and Alan. Zoey watched Jamie for a moment before turning back to Maria who gave a small, tired smile.

"What," Zoey questioned.

"Nothing." Maria started coughing again, this time harder than before. After a minute, she stopped and looked at Zoey again. "I just wanted a normal life ya know?"

"You're going to get a normal life Maria. Once we cure you and once we get to safety."

"Yeah…I guess I won't know what I'm missing at least…" Maria looked up at Zoey, staring her in the eyes. "I know I'm going to miss finding love though…"

"You're not going to miss anything," Zoey assured, stroking the now coughing girl's head softly. "I promise you're going to get better, we're going to get out of this, and in a few years you're going to find a handsome young man." Maria smiled a bit. After a moment, the little girl looked up at Zoey.

"You've kissed someone before right?" Zoey blushed a bit then nodded once. "What was that like?"

"Why do you want to know," Zoey asked with a laugh, her face growing increasingly red.

"I want to know what I'm missing." Zoey scoffed amusingly before looking at the floor. Maria waited for a moment before Zoey looked back up.

"It was in high school, I was a freshman he was a junior."

"Wow, going for them older guys," Maria said teasingly. Zoey glared mockingly before continuing.

"It wasn't that great though. He had braces and asthma. I nearly killed him because he was so nervous." Maria giggled a bit before coughing again. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Maria replied quickly before clearing her throat. "So that wasn't the greatest kiss you've ever had?"

"No way," Zoey said as she laughed.

"Which one was your best kiss?" Zoey stopped for a moment to think. "Well…?"

"I don't think I've had a lot of good kisses," Zoey admitted before blushing suddenly. "Jeez, why am I telling you stories like this?!"

"Because I asked," Maria answered honestly. "Why haven't any of your kisses been great?"

"Well…I've never been in a serious relationship before." Zoey shrugged. "After high school I was a shut in and I had little to no human interaction."

"So you've only had one kiss?" Zoey shrugged dismissively. "You know…I bet ya Jamie is a great kisser." Zoey's face lit up in red within seconds. Maria suddenly exploded with laughter as Zoey tried to cover her heated face with her hands. Her laughter was followed by coughing, which helped quiet her down. "Come on, you know you like him. Why don't you just tell him the truth?"

"I don't-,"

"You're going to lie to a dying girl," Maria asked, a challenging smirk on her face. Zoey sat dumbfounded, her mouth gaping with confusion. What does someone say to that? "What have you two got to lose? I've seen how he looks at you, and what happens when your eyes meet." Zoey's red face didn't fade away no matter how hard she wished it would. "Just tell him…both of you deserve that at the very least…" Zoey looked over, seeing Jamie talking with Doc.

"I…I dunno…" Zoey looked back to Maria who coughed before looking back up at Zoey.

"Do it," Maria ordered. "For me…" Zoey sighed, staring down as Jamie walked up.

"Alright, Doc says that all of your symptoms are because of the infection. You can't have anything to eat because you'll just barf it up later, but you can have water. Alan's going to go get a bottle now."

"Thanks Jamie," Maria said with a grin. "Oh, Zoey had something she wanted to tell you." Zoey's head snapped up, a look of dread on her face. Jamie only stared at Zoey sitting in the chair, unable to see her face. "In private…"

"Oh, alright, lead the way Zoey."

The light haired brunette scowled at Maria who only grinned in response. Zoey stood up and walked away from Maria, leading Jamie into a separate room, thousands of thoughts running through her head. How is she going to tell him? How is he going to react? What is he, what CAN he say? Before Zoey knew it, they were in the computer room and she was standing in the middle, her back to Jamie.

"So what's all this about," Jamie asked. Zoey held her eyes shut, arguing with herself that this was a bad idea. After a moment, she sighed then turned around, opening her eyes to stare directly into Jamie's.

"Um…I uh…" Jamie waited patiently, putting his hands into his pockets. "Okay, Maria told me to be honest so here goes." Zoey swallowed the lump in her throat and let out a shaking sigh. "I…I like you Jamie…I mean 'like' like." Zoey cursed herself instantly for the last remark. What was she a fifth grader? Jamie's eyes were wide with shock and fixated on Zoey. After a minute his eyes lowered down to the floor.

"Well…shit…" Zoey's mind started racing. What's wrong? Why shit? What was he thinking right now? "Look, Zoey, you're a great girl and I like you too."

"No, I understand," Zoey replied immediately. Jamie was thrown for a loop and his face clearly showed his confusion.

"You…understand? Just like that?" Zoey blushed for a minute, going over what Jamie said again. She heard 'you're a great girl, but,' when he really said, 'you're a great girl and I like you too.' Zoey's face was red with embarrassment, causing her to stare at her feet.

"Sorry, continue…"

"Um…okay, I like you a lot, but…" Jamie sighed then walked up to Zoey, placing his hand under her chin to better look at her. "It's just that…when people are in stressful situations or crazy situations like this they sometimes do stupid or impulsive things, right?"

"Yeah," Zoey agreed, trying to focus on what Jamie was saying and not his eyes.

"And well…I just want to be sure these feelings I have right now are actually my feelings and not just whatever instinct that makes us do stupid things in stressful or life threatening situations." Zoey looked down for a minute to contemplate Jamie's words. They made sense, it made perfect sense. He liked her so much that he wanted to make sure that he actually liked her and that it wasn't the situation making him feel like this. "You okay…?"

"Yeah," Zoey snapped as she came out of her thoughts. "You're right, if we really like each other we should wait." Jamie smiled a bit before lowering his hand.

"So are you okay," Jamie asked again.

"I'm fine," Zoey answered with a grin on her face. "Don't worry about it, we're cool."

"Alright," Jamie said with a grin before he wrapped his arms around Zoey, giving her an embracive hug. Zoey lowered her gaze to the floor as she did the same. If she was okay, why did it feel like something was still wrong? What if these feelings were just because of the apocalyptic setting? A part of her was screaming that she didn't want to let this feeling go, even if it wasn't true. "Uh…Zoey?" Or maybe it was the hug she didn't want to let go? Zoey quickly unwrapped her arms, clearing her throat as her face began to heat up again. "Alright then," Jamie began, rubbing the back of his neck, her face also turning red. "We should be heading back…"

"Right, lead the way."

When they got back, Alan was still helping Doc, and Maria was now fast asleep once again. Hours later, Maria woke up, screaming with pain and darkened veins popping out of her pale skin. Everyone panicked, but Doc shouted at them that there wasn't anything they could do at the moment besides let her scream. It also meant the infection was working faster than Doc originally thought. After nearly two hours of screaming, Maria finally passed out. Her skin was now pasty white, and her veins were nearly completely black. Doc had been mixing chemicals, using left over samples, replayed videos over and over again until the sun broke into the sky. It had been twenty hours since Maria was thrown up on, and the little girl was now thrashing around mindlessly, shouting gibberish. She was barely holding onto her humanity and slowly started becoming more infected than human.

"Doc," Jamie shouted, trying to hold Maria down to avoid injuring herself. "Tell me you've got something!"

"I might," Doc replied. "But I've got to test it and make sure!"

"How long does testing take," Zoey asked, clutching her pistols while watching the doors. Maria's thrashing and screaming made the others a little paranoid, and lack of sleep had put them on edge.

"At least two hours," Doc replied.

"We don't have time for that damn it," Alan shouted. "Your last tests were based on their early shit and it's been proven to kill the Green Flu!"

"But there are different things to consider," Doc screamed. "It worked on her blood alone yes, but the Green Flu affects her brain, organs, bones, skin, muscles, every part of the body! I need a more thorough exam before I can even think of injecting her with this otherwise it could kill her!"

"She's dead anyway," Jamie exclaimed. "You've got to do it!"

"If I do it will kill her! We could just cut out the hours of pain she'll experience and just shoot her now!"

"DOC," Maria shouted, trying to stop her thrashing. Everyone was quiet, staring at the infected little girl. "Please…just do it…"

"Maria, I can't, there are too many variables to-,"

"Doc," Maria snapped. "I trust you. Please give me the shot…" Doc sighed then pulled out an empty syringe. He filled it completely with the vaccine then walked over to Maria.

"You sure," Doc asked. All eyes were fixed on Maria, watching for her reaction. The little girl nodded once, not saying a word. Doc sighed heavily before injecting the needle into Maria's arm, pushing the vaccine into her body. Maria sighed a bit before her head fell back gently.

"What happened," Jamie asked worryingly. "Is that a good thing?"

"Sort of," Doc answered. "That's what my vaccine was supposed to do, otherwise she'd still be in pain while it destroyed the virus…if it destroys the virus…"

"So if this doesn't work," Alan began, leaving the end of his sentence for Doc to finish.

"If it doesn't work, then the Green Flu will kill my vaccine…and she'll become a zombie anyway…"

"How long until we know," Zoey asked.

"I'm not sure. The vaccine could just delay the virus' spread through her body, so it could be tomorrow before she wakes up, normal or infected. Now all we can do is wait…"

The survivors sat in the lab, doing nothing besides counting the seconds go by as Maria lied in bed, unmoving. Time didn't seem to go by any faster than normal, progressing in hours instead of minutes. Each survivor was going through their own thoughts about everything. Meeting each other, their thoughts and feelings for one another, and what was happening with Maria at the moment. No one could blame themselves was the one thing they all agreed individually. Maria didn't move, and her condition didn't worsen nor did it get any better. This left each of the four with different reactions. Doc wasn't sure if his vaccine was working or not, but believed if it was working that she'd be getting better, not staying the same. Alan didn't think it was working, and he felt he would have to do something if Maria turned into a zombie. Everyone else loved her too much. Zoey was praying that it was working but she knew there was a possibility it wasn't. She wasn't getting better and she wasn't getting worse. Maybe she'd just be in pain forever and be some infected human mutant. Jamie knew that it was working. She wasn't getting worse, she wasn't twitching, and her skin wasn't getting paler. Something just told him that things would be okay.

"Guys," Alan spoke up for the first time in hours. "I…I just wanted you all to know that…I really appreciate having you guys around. You…you all are like my family now." Everyone smiled wearily.

"Same here," Doc added. "I never really had a family, too busy with med school and my dad kicked the bucket at a young age, and my mom raised me enough just to get out of high school. You guys, you're most definitely family to me." Suddenly, Maria stirred a bit and groaned. Everyone jumped up and ran over to her. Everyone hovered over Maria, watching and waiting as her eyelids twitched, about to open.

* * *

Cliffhangers, aren't they a BITCH!? Alright, since I have all of you pissed off I'll just tell you thank you ALL who read this story and supported me through twenty four crazy ass chapters of zombie mashing, Smoker strangiln, Hunter bashing, Jockey rapin, Tank smashin, uh…lots of explosions of uh…screw it, just thanks for all the amazing support!

Now I'll explain my overall, master plan to all of you! I'm not done with this story, in fact I'm far from done with this story! My next Left 4 Dead story will be **Back 4 More: Southern Edition**! Featuring, you guessed it, everyone's favorite news reportin, redneck slurin, chocolate lovin, friend insulting survivors: Rochelle, Ellis, Coach, and Nick (in that order). Basically it'll be a story involving the L4D2 survivors AFTER the bridge finale at the end of the game and how they get thrown back into zombieland. Why is it important? Well look at the freaking title, what relevance to you think it could have with this story? And after that story I'll have the direct sequel to THIS story…which I haven't thought of a title because I don't know what else has 4 or any other random number in it.

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and expect more soon!


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